The Little Muggle
by Sunny Hunny
Summary: Lily Evans is a muggle, and she falls in love with a Wizard, James Potter. The Dark Lord, Voldemort, gives Lily some magic and 3 days to make James fall in love with her. This is AU and loosely based on the Little Mermaid. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Let me start by saying that the Little Mermaid is my favourite movie ever. Some may call it juvenile, but hey, my friend is 19 and she loves practically every Disney movie on this planet. Anyways, I was watching the Little Mermaid the other day with said friend, and I was struck by the similarities in appearance between Ariel and Lily and Eric and James. That got me thinking a lot, and finally I decided that I had to try my hand at writing a fanfic out of it. Here is the result: an AU Lily/James fic based on the Little Mermaid. Basically, Lily is a muggle who loves reading books and watching movies about Wizards – and she believes that they're real. Her parents and her friends, ever the skeptics, are a little less than supportive of her fantasies. James is a pureblood Wizard – the son of the Minister for Magic to be exact – who has never had any experience of the muggle world. His parents want nothing more than for him to settle down and get married – to a nice respectable pureblood Wizard.

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters you recognize or the storyline. I know that and you know that, so let's move on.

* * *

"Jamsie poo! Waky, waky!" James Potter was very skilled at feigning sleep, but even he could not ignore an annoying, high pitched, girly voice yelling in his ear. He buried his head in his pillow, while blindly grabbing for the unused one next to him, and proceeded to sandwich his head between the two. Sirius Black, however, was not to be deterred. "Come on Prongs! It's time to eat!" James let out a groan at being woken up at an ungodly hour of the morning for no reason other than his friend's stomach, which incidentally never stopped growling. There are, however, only so many things one person can take without waking up and completely destroying any chance of falling back asleep, and being pounced on and licked by a humongous black dog is not one of them. 

"Gerroff me!" James mumbled into the pillow while flailing his arms about trying to smack his friend in the face.

"James! Be careful! You're going to hit me in the face and mar my beautiful appearance."

"You mean I missed?" he joked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"You wound me, Prongs. Where would we be without my flawless features attracting women by the dozen? Why, you may never get a date again!"

"I think I'll risk it," James replied flatly. He put on his glasses and laughed at the sight of his friend sitting on his bed in front of him, giving him the puppy dog eyes and the pouting lips. "That only works when you're a dog, Padfoot," he laughed.

"Well, I would love to sit here and argue with you more on your ability to get a date without the help of yours truly, but your mom and dotty had an argument this morning on who should make breakfast, and guess who won? Okay, I'll tell you. There's no need to beg. Me!"

"Dare I ask?"

"As the peacemaker and genius that I am, (here James snorted and then tried to cover it up, earning a glare from Sirius) I suggested that they both make breakfast!"

"I fail to see how that qualifies you as a 'genius'."

"Two amazing cooks both making breakfast for me? It's the stuff dreams are made of Prongs! I mean, how much better can you get than double the amount of amazing food? Pancakes _and _waffles. Bacon _and _sausages. Omlettes _and_ –"

"Padfoot, let's go down and eat before you start drooling on my bed, okay?"

"Yes sir!" Sirius replied in mock salute before leading the way out of the room and towards the kitchen.

"Morning, mum," James said upon entering the kitchen. He went over and kissed her on the cheek before sitting down at the table.

"Morning mum," echoed Sirius, who had long since started his breakfast. Upon spotting the plate piled high with pancakes directly in front of Sirius's plate, James made a grab for it, but was unsuccessful due to Sirius swatting his hand out of the way. "Back off! Get your own breakfast!" he shouted before shoveling some more food in his mouth. "This is delicious," he continued, now addressing James's mother and their house elf, Dotty. "You guys should try a joint project more often." It didn't sound anything like that, of course, considering his mouth was full of food, but after a year of living with Sirius, everyone in the kitchen was proficient with interpreting his gibberish. James just rolled his eyes and started eating his own food.

Sirius continued inhaling his breakfast at an alarming rate, not even bothering to look up or mutter any kind of acknowledgement when James's father entered the kitchen and sat down at the table. "Good morning, Richard," James's mother said while bending over to kiss him on the cheek before placing a cup of coffee and the morning newspaper in front of him. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Pretty well, dear," he answered amiably. "I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow."

"What time did you get in? I was fast asleep, and I didn't wake up when you came to bed."

"Oh, it must have been around 3 a.m. I had a lot of work to do at the office."

"Mom, is it okay if Sirius and I go to Hogsmeade today? We are supposed to meet Remus and Peter there."

"Is anything wrong, dear?"

"No," he replied, shooting an uneasy glance at Sirius. "It's just some bonding time with the boys."

"Alright. Have fun."

"Oh, and we won't be back until tomorrow. We are going to stay at Remus's place for the night."

"Be careful"

"We will, mom."

"So James," Richard began, "met any new girls recently? Anyone you think we should meet?" It seemed like an innocent enough question, but everyone could feel the temperature in the room drop ten degrees.

"Not since the last time you asked, no" James replied disdainfully.

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me. I just want what's best for you."

"Yes, but you think that what's best for me is to rush into marriage at the age of 18 with some pureblood witch that I barely know with lots of money in the bank and a nice image that will make me a shoe in for the next Minister of Magic!"

Everyone in the room watched as a silent battle of wills broke out between James and his father, both of them glaring icily at the other waiting for them to break. Finally, Richard tore his gaze away and stood up from his chair, neatly folding his newspaper and putting his coffee cup in the sink. "I need to go to work. I have a job to do unlike some people who can laze around all day." James scoffed at this and refused to look at his father. "Goodbye, Caroline, I'll see you later this evening." On that bitter note, he grabbed his coat from the closet and exited the house, slamming the front door behind him.

"James! That was uncalled for," his mother admonished as soon as her husband was gone.

"Uncalled for? You have got to be kidding me! He will not lay off me for a second. He keeps on pressuring me to find someone to marry. 'James, you need to settle down with a respectable pureblood witch who will support you and help you further your political career.'"

"Honey, we all want to see you happily settled down with the right girl."

"Right! And the right girl just happens to be the girl that dad approves of? What happens if I fall in love with some girl and she happens to be a muggleborn, or even a muggle? Am I supposed to just tell her sorry, I can't be with her, because my parents would disown me and it would ruin my chances of becoming Minister for Magic?"

"Your father just wants what's best for you."

"So he says. More like he wants what's best for him. I don't even want to be the stupid Minister for Magic. I have no interest in politics. If he's so mad because I don't do anything all day and he thinks that makes me lazy, he should have thought of that before he refused to allow me to enter the Auror Academy. Yeah, he wants what's best for me, all right. But screw anything that might make me happy. Come on Sirius, we're leaving."

Sirius, who had been unusually quiet throughout the whole conversation, sent an apologetic glance toward Caroline and obediently followed his friend out the door.

"I can't believe him!" James yelled once they were out the door. "I could be in the Auror Academy right now preparing for a really meaningful career doing something that matters to the world _and_ to me. I could be buying a flat with the money I have and finally be free of my father's nagging."

"James –"

"Instead, I'm stuck in my parents' stuffy old house waiting for them to snuff it so I can live in the stuffy old house with my stuffy old wife and take over my dad's stuffy old job. And he has the nerve to call me lazy! It's his own fault I don't have a job!"

"Look Prongs, there's Moony and Wormtail," Sirius pointed out, effectively halting James's rant. James grumbled as they approached their other friends, and while Peter was as clueless as ever, Remus could tell as soon as he saw his friend that he was upset.

"What's wrong, Prongs?" he inquired.

Sirius slapped his hand to his forehead. "You had to bring that up, didn't you Moony? I just got him to shut up about it." He was quickly silenced by glares from James and Remus, while Peter continued to look around absentmindedly.

"It's my stupid father."

"Ah, the old 'when are you going to get married to a nice respectable pureblood girl' bit?"

"You guessed it. Really, what is wrong with muggles and muggleborns?"

"I don't think your dad has anything against them, James. I think it's more a matter of him not wanting you to marry one."

"Well, he's an idiot. And a bigot. He preaches tolerance for everyone, yet he doesn't think enough of them to marry his only son."

"It's because he's afraid people wouldn't vote for you for Minister for Magic if you aren't married to a pureblood."

"I just wish he would let it sink into his thick skull that I don't want to be Minister of Magic. I don't want to be a politician. I want you guys to make me a promise. Promise me that if I ever get married and she's not pureblood, you'll be there, because we would definitely have to elope. My dad will not be at that wedding, and I'd rather the reason be that he's not invited than that he refuses to come."

"Of course we'll be there," Remus replied.

"Yeah, Prongs. We wouldn't miss it," Sirius added. "You make a commitment to someone? Now, this I've got to see!"

"Shut up!"

* * *

Well, I hope that you like it so far. The next chapter willhave Lily. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters you recognize or the basic storyline. I know that and you know that, so let's move on.

* * *

"Do you believe in magic?" Lily Evans asked her best friend Sylvia Sutcliff as she sat beside her on a park swing, swinging softly, her long red hair alternating between blowing behind her and blowing in her face. After a competition designed to determine who could swing higher, Lily was now the proud owner of Sylvia's left sandal, which she held loosely in her left hand.

"Define magic. I believe in the magic between two people in love. I believe in the magic of accomplishing something you've worked really hard for. I believe in the magic of doing something you really love. Do I believe in the kind of magic that turns mice into horses and renders people immobile and fixes things all with the flick of a wand and a few foreign words? I'm not so sure. I believe that people make their own magic, Lily."

"I just can't help believing that somewhere in the world, someone can do magic. I read all these books and see all these movies about sorcerers and enchantresses and witches and wizards and I just can't fathom how all of these things can just come out of our heads. There has to be some basis for it. I figure that there must have been a time when all people lived together whether they had magic or not, but the people who didn't began to envy those who did because all of the good things happened to the magical people. The magical people had to hide from the non-magical people to protect themselves, and to this day live among us, hiding who they are. I just wish that I could meet them. I wish that I could experience their magic. I wish that _I_ could be magical."

"It's a nice notion, Lily, but you don't even know that there really are magical people."

Lily glanced at her watch before speaking, "If I showed you something, would you promise never to tell a single soul what I've told you and what you've seen?"

"Of course. I may be a bit of a skeptic, but I'll always be your best friend, and I'll always keep your secrets. I still haven't told anyone about your secret crush on the clown at the circus we went to when we were eight, have I?"

"Shut up," Lily replied, playfully hitting her friend on the shoulder. "I think that secret's just a little bit expired.

"Oh, thank goodness. I just can't hold it in any longer. If I don't tell someone, I'm going to blow up."

Once her laughter had died down, Lily looked at her watch and let out a squeal. "Hurry, Sylvia! We're going to be late!" she cried, jumping off the swing and grabbing her friend's arm with her free hand. She started to run off, but didn't get very far before a force pulled her back to her starting point. "What?"

"I'm not going anywhere without two shoes."

"Lily glanced down at the sandal in her hand, up in the direction she wanted to go, and back down at the shoe. Finally she held out the shoe to Sylvia, looking into her friend's brown eyes with a twinkle in her own green ones. "Take it," she said in mock pain, turning her head and closing her eyes, "before I change my mind. Oh, wait!" she exclaimed, turning her gaze on the shoe. "I promise that I'm not abandoning you. Sylvia's just going to borrow you for a while. I'll miss you!" She then turned back to Sylvia and put a bright smile on her face. "Here you go!" she cried, handing the shoe to her friend.

"You're nuts," Sylvia said, putting on her sandal, "you know that?"

"Of course, thanks. Now let's go!" On that note, she grabbed her friend's arm again and started running.

"Lily, just out of curiosity, what could we possibly be late for at –" Here she looked at her watch. "– 10:30 in the morning? Because it better be good if you're willing to pull my arm off for it. I must say that I'm rather attached to my arm. Ha, ha, get it? Attached – I crack myself up."

"We have to be there before 11:00. I'm sure that that's when the train leaves. Or at least"

"Whoa, hold it. Are you out of your mind? I am _so_ not taking a train anywhere. In case you've forgotten, we have a little problem of parents who just might have a fit if we aren't home by dark. You of all people should realize that we can't just run off. You're the daughter of the Prime Minister. Your dad is going to think you've been kidnapped for ransom money. Hell, if anyone recognizes you, you probably _will_ be kidnapped for ransom money!"

"_We_ aren't taking the train you dingbat! And it's not even noon yet. No one is going to kidnap me in the middle of the day. Now, hurry up or we'll miss it."

"Miss what, exactly?"

"What I want to show you." Lily didn't slow down until they had reached King's Cross Station. Once they were inside the building, she led Sylvia to the area near platforms 9 and 10. She then pulled her friend down to the ground so that they were hiding behind a garbage bin."

"I say! It's garbage!" Sylvia squealed in fake excitement. "I can totally see why you would be so excited to show me this."

"We're not here to look at garbage. If we wanted to see that, we wouldn't have to look far. Your room is covered in it."

"Hey! That's –"

"SHH!"

"Seriously, Lily, what is with you? You're acting really strange. I think you have a fever. Never fear! It's Doctor Sylvia to the rescue! Now," she continued, altering her tone to be more serious, "I prescribe some ice cream, lots of chocolate, and plenty of bed rest, and you should feel better in, oh about a decade or two."

"Look!" Lily exclaimed suddenly, pointing at something on the platform.

"What?" Sylvia inquired while craning her neck to see above the garbage bin.

"Look at that person over there, the one with the owl in the cage on top of his suitcase."

"What about him?"

"Don't you find it odd that he's got an owl in a cage?"

"Well yes, but I also find it odd that you care. Is _this_ what you wanted to show me, Lily? 'Cause if it is, don't you think it's a little anticlimactic? I mean, really –"

"Look! There are two more people with owls!"

"Okay, so it's a club for owl fanatics and they're taking a trip with their owls. Can we go now?"

"Listen, Sylvia, just watch one of the people with owls, okay? But don't let them see you watching. I just have a feeling that something important is going to happen." The two girls watched a small dark haired boy as he started crying, and then they watched another boy, this one a little older, kneel down in front of him. They strained their ears to hear what he was saying.

"Don't worry, buddy. I promise I won't forget you while I'm away at school. I'll write you letters so much you'll get sick of me."

"I don't want you to go, Chris."

"I have to buddy. How about I tell you one more time how I got into Diagon Ally. Will that make you feel better?" The little boy sniffed and nodded. "Well, first we had to go through the Leaky Cauldron, which we never would have noticed if we hadn't been looking for it. It's on John Lennon Road, between a book shop and a record shop. Then we headed out the other side towards the big brick wall. Then Dad tapped the wall with his wand in a certain, secret, sequence, and the wall moved apart to let us through. You got that? You need to remember it for when you start Hogwarts."

"Shh, dear, don't speak about Hogwarts until you're on the platform," admonished a woman who had to be their mother. What if a muggle heard you?"

"What's a muggle?" Sylvia pondered out loud, not really expecting a reply, and not getting one.

Sylvia and Lily watched as the older boy hugged his parents and his little brother, finally stopping at the post between platforms 9 and 10. Sylvia's eyes widened as the he began to run at the wall with his trolley and opted to close her eyes, not wanting to see him crash. After a minute, she hadn't heard anything, so she opened her eyes through her hand only to move her hand away upon realizing that the boy was gone, leaving his brother crying and his parents comforting him."

"Did you see?" Lily asked excitedly.

"Where did he go?"

Lily turned toward her friend. "Weren't you watching?"

"I covered my eyes. I couldn't bear to watch a little kid crash into a wall."

"Here comes a girl with a toad in her hand. Watch her. And keep your eyes open this time."

Sylvia did as instructed and was surprised to see the girl disappear through the wall. "Did she… am I…"

"Come on," Lily said, dragging her friend out from their hiding spot. She basically had to drag Sylvia all the way back to her house while listening to her friend's nonsensical mumblings. The only word she could make out was impossible. Finally they reached Lily's house, and seeing that her father and sister were out, Lily thanked God for small miracles before dragging Sylvia up to her room.

When Sylvia was finally able to gather her bearings, she looked at Lily with wide eyes.

"How did they – how did you know?"

"You mean how did I know that they would go through the wall?" Sylvia nodded. "I didn't. Two years ago, on September 1st, I took the train from Kings Cross Platform 10 to visit my cousin. I was there at 10:30 but my train didn't leave until 11:30, so, with nothing to do, I observed the people around me. I noticed that there were quite a few people with owls or in cages or carrying around toads. I found it really odd, but even odder was the fact that _all_ of them were gone by 11:00. I forgot about it later, but last year on September 1st, the exact same thing happened when I was going for another visit to my cousin's. By then it was too weird, so I decided that I would come back this year to see where they were all going. I didn't really expect them to disappear, but I did expect something weird to happen."

"Lily."

"Yes?"

"It's impossible for people to walk through walls."

"I wouldn't say impossible. It isn't probable though. It's really unbelievable. Kind of like magic, don't you think?"

"You don't really think –"

"What else could it be? Listen, you heard that boy tell his brother how to get into that place called Diagon Alley. I think that it could be the barrier between this world and the world of magic."

"Lily, you are crazy. I really think that you need to calm down. Let's get something to eat. Maybe it'll –"

"Oh, no!" Lily's eyes widened. "I was supposed to go to Parliament this morning to have brunch with all the most important contributors to the government! My father's going to kill me!"

"Lily, I just heard a car door slam."

"They're home! Quick! There's still time. Save yourself!"

"Are you nuts? How am I supposed to get out of here now? They'll be in the house any minute."

"Go out the window."

Sylvia looked at her apprehensively, but hearing the front door open downstairs left her with limited options: go out the window or witness the Prime Minister's temper. She opted for the window, giving Lily a quick hug goodbye.

"Lily Evans, get down here this instant!"

Sylvia gave her friend a sympathetic look before climbing out the window onto the lower level of the roof and then jumping off. Lily turned toward the door to her room and anxiously trudged downstairs, putting on her best puppy dog face just as she reached the bottom step and walked straight into her father's chest.

"Hi, Daddy."

"Don't you dare 'Hi, Daddy' me. You had better have a very good reason for missing brunch this morning. Everyone was asking where you were, and I kept telling them that you were just running late. It looked really stupid when you never showed up! What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Umm, I'm sorry?"

"Where on earth were you? When I woke up this morning to find you gone I thought that you had gone to Parliament early. But it became clear that that was not the case when Petunia and I arrived and you were nowhere in sight."

"I really am sorry, Daddy. I just lost track of time."

"I want to know where you were."

"I was just with Sylvia. We were hanging out at the park."

"You were at the park _all_ morning?"

"No," Lily sighed, continuing in a defeated voice, "we went to the train station."

"You went to see those weird people with the owls and toads again, didn't you? Didn't you?" Lily winced. "I don't know how many times I've told you, Lily, witches and wizards don't exist. Magic doesn't exist."

"But Daddy –"

"No buts. You need to get these frivolous ideas out of your head. You are 18 years old now and out of high school. You need to grow up some time. I do not want to hear any more about magic being real, or I'll take away all your books and movies. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Daddy," she replied dejectedly, looking down at the ground.

"Now go apologize to your sister, please."

"Yes, Daddy."

* * *

Believe it or not, John Lennon Road is a real road. Now, I realize that it is in Liverpool and that it is most definitely not where the Leaky Cauldron is, but Jo doesn't give us a street name, so at least I used a real one. What can I say? Ihave an obsession with the Beatles. If you're wondering, yes I did use Stuart Sutcliff's last name for Sylvia. Now, I'd like to thank my reviewers for last chapter, dreamergirl86, apotterlover, Pair of Dice, Helen, and tea. You guys made my day. I hope you liked this chapter. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: We all know that I don't own any recognizable characters or the basic storyline. I'm not pretending to, so don't sue.

Lily lay on her back on top of her bed's soft white comforter, staring at the ceiling and thinking about what she had heard at the train station. Her father was at work and her sister was at her new boyfriend's house. His name was Vernon, and Lily thought that he looked rather like a balloon with a mustache, but she would never tell Petunia that. She loved her sister and wanted her to be happy, and it didn't really matter if there was no accounting for taste. She was glad to have a little time to herself, anyway.

Lily just knew that the strange people at the train station were magical people. She could feel it right down to her very core. For one thing, they were heading to a school called Hogwarts. Lily was sure she had never heard of such a place, and she couldn't imagine any normal place having such a flamboyant name. She was roused from her thoughts at the sound of the doorbell downstairs, and she went down to see who it was.

She opened the door and, seeing Sylvia standing there with a sympathetic look on her face, opened it wider to let her in.

"Hey, how'd it go with your dad?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. 'Lily there's no such thing as magic.' I wouldn't expect him to get it." The two girls headed up to Lily's room. "The funny thing is that before, Ijust couldn'tnot believe in magic. Now though, I'm as sure of its existence as I am that I have red hair. I'd be willing to stake my life on it."

"Don't you think that's going a bit far, though? I mean, you never know. They could have been magicians going to a magician school or something.

"Do you want to see something?"

"No!" Sylvia shouted right away. "I'm staying right here. No more adventures, got that?"

Lily just remained silent as she turned away from her friend, lying on her stomach on her bed and bending over to get something from under her bed. She pulled a large box out and sat up properly on the bed with the box in her lap.

"What is it?" Sylvia questioned.

"It's my collection," Lily replied before pulling off the lid. Sylvia leaned forward to peer inside the box. She was rather surprised to see at least a hundred books, movies, toys, stuffed animals – anything having to do with magic. She slowly put her hand in the box and pulled out a book, reading the title out loud, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." She carefully placed the book back in the box and pulled out a particularly cute stuffed Wizard.

"Does your father know about this?"

"He knows that I have a few books and movies, but he doesn't know the real extent of it. Listen, Sylvia, I want to go to Diagon Alley."

"You want to go where?"

"Don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about. I know you heard that boy telling his brother how to get there. You need a wand. I'm certain that it's the boundary between the magic and non-magic worlds."

"Well, that's all well and good, Lily, but let me remind you that you don't have a wand."

"Details, details. Once I get into the Leaky Cauldron, I'll just go up to someone and tell them I forgot my wand. Or better yet that it got broken."

"Lily, I don't think –"

"I'm going, and that's final. The real question is: are you coming with me?"

"I really don't think –"

"Fine. I'm going. You can let yourself out. Don't tell my dad or Petunia where I've gone if they get home before me or before you leave." She finished putting on her shoes, grabbed her coat, and made to leave the room. She was just at the landing of the stairs when Sylvia cried out, "Wait! I'm going to regret this," she muttered to herself as she put on her own shoes and coat and went downstairs to meet Lily.

Sylvia and Lily walked slowly down JohnLennon Road for the fourth time, Lily looking closely at all the shops. They had been searching for the Leaky Cauldron for an hour with no luck.

"Lily," wined Sylvia, "can't you just give up, be depressed, go home, and eat ice cream until you're all happy again like a normal person?" Lily paid her no heed as she continued to closely examine every shop on the street. "My feet are killing me."

"It has to be around here somewhere," Lily mumbled, though not really in reply. As she approached a familiar looking book shop that was next to a record shop, she realized that she had indeed passed these stores three times already. The fact that they could be what she was trying to find had barely registered in her mind before she dismissed the thought on account of her knowledge that there was supposed to be a building between them. However, she was running out of ideas, so she looked back to the area between them just as she was about to pass the record shop, and sure enough, snugly fitting between the two shops was a tiny pub with an almost decrepit appearance and, more importantly, no name. She let out an excited squeal, drawing Sylvia's attention. "I think I've found it," she whispered, causing Sylvia's eyes to widen.

"Are you sure?"

"Well, as sure as I can be considering I know very little about the place."

"Great, so you've found it. Now what?"

"I'm going in. I told you that I'm going to get into Diagon Alley, and I will…one way or another."

"Well, I'm not going to wait here all by myself on the streets of London waiting who knows how long for you to get back. I'm coming with you."

Lily pushed open the door and she and Sylvia entered to be greeted by a dark room where strangely clad people sat at tables drinking out of dirty looking glasses and carrying on light conversation. They were surprised when they were greeted by an old, bald man asking if he could help them.

"Umm," was all Sylvia could say, and Lily quickly took over to prevent her from digging them into a hole.

"Actually, yes. We're on our way to Diagon Alley because I need to buy a new wand. My older brother got really angry with me yesterday and threw it in the fire. You know how siblings are," she added, hoping that he did. "The real problem is that my friend here seems to have forgotten her wand. She's been a little harebrained lately." Here Sylvia appropriately gave a nervous laugh and grin, hoping to further convince him of her flightiness. The man glared at them for a few moments, seemingly sizing them up and trying to figure out if they were telling the truth. Finally he nodded, leading them over to the bar, where a middle-aged bald man sat alone, wearing a top hat and periodically bringing his glass to his lips.

"Dedalus, could you please help these two young ladies get into Diagon Alley. They seem to be both without wands today."

"Sure, Tom," he replied. No problem. He got up and started to walk through the bar, motioning Lily and Sylvia to follow him. They did so, and he led them out of the bar and into a courtyard facing a large brick wall. He took out his wand and tapped a sequence of bricks on the wall, and the three of them watched as the bricks rearranged to make an archway leading out onto a winding road. "There you go ladies. Mind that you don't get lost now."

"We won't," replied Lily. "I'm sorry, but we really must be going. We are pressed for time. It was nice to meet you, and thank you very much for your help.

"Don't mention it," the man Dedalus said before heading back towards the bar. The two girls watched as the archway turned back into a solid wall before turning back to face the street ahead of them.

"What now?" Sylvia asked.

"I guess now we explore." The girls walked down the road, gazing around, amazed by all of the interesting shops: a shop with a stack of cauldrons outside, Eeylops Owl Emporium, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, and many more. While Sylvia occupied herself looking in the window of a book shop where sat books she had never heard of before, Lily felt her eyes drawn toward four boys standing beside a statue not fifteen feet from Lily and Sylvia.

Lily watched as the tallest one, a good looking boy with long, dark hair threw back his head and let out a bark-like laugh. She turned her gaze toward the boy closest to the statue hit the other boy on the arm. This one was also tall with dark hair, but his was much messier and his eyes were hidden by glasses. Far from making him look nerdy, they merely added to his attractiveness. The third boy was not much shorter than him, with sandy hair and a tired look on his face. The final boy seemed oblivious to the antics of his friends, preferring to look around mindlessly.

Suddenly, Lily saw a flash ofred light speeding toward the statue before striking it and sending a shower of broken pieces toward the ground. Lily was already there, pushing the bespectacled boy out of the way before getting hit in the head with a piece of the broken statue herself and blacking out.

James was caught completely off guard when Lily hit him, having not seen her, so naturally he went flying into Sirius and knocking both of them to the ground. "I love you too, Prongs, but I really don't think that this is appropriate."

James wasn't listening, though, as he had just spotted Lily lying on the ground a few feet away. He got up and went over to her, bending down next to her and gently brushing her red hair out of her face. He was struck by how beautiful she was, but even more so by the fact that she had risked her life for him without even knowing him. He pulled his wand out of his pocket, pointed it at her, and whispered, "Ennervate."

Lily moaned and slowly opened her eyes to see James staring down at her, concern written all over his face. She tried to sit up, only to gasp and grasp her head at the pain. "Do you want us to take you to St. Mungo's?" James asked her.

"Huh?"

"St. Mungo's. You know, the wizard hospital."

"No!" Lily cried out, surprising James. "No," she repeated more quietly. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You idiot! How could you do that to me?" Sylvia cried, running over and pushing James out of the way. She continued to yell at Lily, causing her to wince; it was doing nothing for her headache. "Are you insane? Never mind, don't answer that. Are you _trying_ to give me a heart attack? I'm only 18! I'm not ready to die! And neither are you. Don't do that again! How would I have explained to your father why –?"

"Sylvia, would you shut up for a second?" Lily interrupted. "My head is killing me."

"You deserve it," Sylvia said, but she stopped yelling, deciding instead to pull Lily into a tight hug. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't really think about what I was doing. I kind of just acted instinctively."

"You saved my life," James said, pulling Sylvia out of her reverie. She hadn't really noticed the four boys before.

"It was nothing," Lily replied.

"I wish I could do something. Let us buy you ice cream or something. Maybe it'll even help your headache."

"Excuse me Prongs, but I never said anything about buying anyone ice cream. How about you treat ALL of us?"

James rolled his eyes. "Pardon me. What I meant to say was please let me buy you ice cream. What do you say?"

"Lily looked at Sylvia who was still fussing over her and not really paying attention. "Sure, why not?" James crouched down next to Lily again, wrapping his arm around her waist, allowing her to wrap her arm around his neck, and helped her up.

James led Lily and the rest of the group toward Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, with Sylvia following behind them, Sirius and Remus behind her laughing at something or another, and Peter bringing up the rear. When they got inside, James offered to go order while everyone else sat down.

"Dynamite for me, Prongs," declared the ever-daring Sirius. "Yum, my favourite."

"Remus smacked him in the back of the head and said, "Wipe that drool off your face," before turning to James. "I'll stick to chocolate toffee." Peter, who could never make up his mind about anything, hemmed and hawed for a full two minutes before Remus got slightly impatient and told James to get him chocolate toffee too. James then turned to the two girls. "And what can I get for you lovely ladies? Sylvia, who was slightly frightened after hearing Sirius order, opted for plain old vanilla. Lily was a bit more daring, but she didn't know what flavours there were, and she didn't want them to know that – after all, she was pretending to be a wizard – so she asked James to surprise her.

After a few moments of silence, Sirius turned to Lily and appeared to be appraising her. She found it slightly unnerving, and finally she told him so. "Sorry, I'm just trying to figure out what to call you. Ah, I've got it! I hereby dub you 'hothead'."

"Hothead?"

"Yes. Your hair looks like it's on fire, plus, it's practically a rule that all redhead's have quite the tempers. So our new friend's shall be hothead and Sylvia. Everyone at the booth just shook their heads, deciding that they shouldn't have asked.

When James returned with the ice cream, he passed Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Sylvia theirs before setting down a bowl of mystery ice cream in front of Lily. It appeared that he had gotten the same thing for himself, so she watched him take a bite and, when nothing happened, shrugged and took a bite – albeit a small one – out of her own. She was surprised at how good it was. "You have good taste," she announced.

"I know," James replied, causing Sirius to laugh.

"If anyone ever calls you modest, tell me so I can go throw myself off a bridge, because I don't want to be around for the end of the world."

"Shut up, Padfoot. At least I don't have disgusting dog breath."

"Are you insinuating that my breath smells?"

"Why Padfoot, that was downright insightful of you. I was sure Moony was going to have to spell it out for you. After all, you're not the brightest crayon in the box."

"Now that's not fair. My breath does not smell bad."

"But you admit that you're an idiot?" Lily asked, intrigued with his logic.

"Eh, I figure why fight the truth. But I don't smell bad. If I did, hothead over there wouldn't want to kiss me right now."

"I _don't_ want to kiss you right now," Lily replied dryly.

"I'm wounded. Everyone is against me." After a moment of silence, he continued, "Hey! You guys are supposed to assure me that no one is against me and that everyone loves me and that hothead really does want to kiss me."

"Eh," said James, his lips turning up into a roguish grin, "I figure why fight the truth."

"Moony, did Prongs just throw my own words back at me?"

"Yes, I believe he did, Padfoot. Good work, Prongs."

"And by the way," said Lily, "I really _don't_ want to kiss you…ever."

"Yeah," added Sylvia, "because if you kissed her, then when she tried to kiss James he would be repulsed by your scent on her breath…ouch! That hurt!" She glared at Lily, who's foot she was sure had caused the pain in her shin, but Lily wasn't looking at her.

"Aw, hothead, do you want to kiss Prongsie here? Because I'm sure that he'd be more than obliging."

"Shut up, Padfoot, unless you want me to throw you off that bridge myself. Sorry about him," he continued, turning to Lily. "His IQ is about that of an 8 year old instead of an 18 year old, as is his emotional maturity. He tends to say stupid things sometimes…a lot of times, actually."

"I know what you mean. Sylvia's like that too, but she's just so darn cute!" Here Lily pinched Sylvia's cheek for good measure, earning a scowl from her friend. "Besides, if I didn't take care of her, no one would. I'm the only one who loves her enough to put up with her. Sometimes I wonder if I'll miss her when she finally grows up and doesn't need me anymore, but then she goes and says something stupid, and I stop worrying. It'll just never happen."

"Wow. We have so much in common," James declared, earning a smile and a small laugh from Lily. He loved the sound of her laugh and the sight of her smile; it was infectious, and he found himself smiling back at her.

"Hey that's not fair," said Sirius. "You guys can't bond over the stupidity of your best friends. It's unmoral." He couldn't figure out why James and Lily burst out laughing.

"You mean _immoral_, Sirius?" corrected Remus.

"Tit for tat…If you're going to get picky about it…"

Conversation continued on for another hour and a half – with Lily and James having their own private conversation – before Lily looked at her watch and let out a shriek, attracting everyone's attention. "Sylvia! We have to get out of here! My dad is going to be home in an hour, and I'm really _not_ in the mood for an inquisition."

"But Lily, how are we going to get back. You never did buy a wand."

"Oh no, you're right! I was having so much fun that I completely forgot. I'll have to get one later, but for now, James, do you think that you could open the wall for us so that we can get to the Leaky Cauldron?"

He agreed and the group set out towards the brick wall that the girls had entered through. After turning the wall into an archway, and watching the girls walk through and the wall turn back, James turned to his friends. "You know that she left and I didn't even learn her name. All I know is that Sirius kept calling her hothead. By the way, what was with that?"

"Don't ask, Prongs," Remus advised. "You really don't want to know."

Padfoot still had to have his say, though. "How is it that you managed to meet the girl of your dreams, be saved by her from flying statue debris, and spend two hours with her without finding out her name? Only you, Prongs."

* * *

Thanks to my reviewers. You guys rock. For my responses to reviews from the first two chapters, see my bio page. I really wish that I had asked people for ideas on ice cream flavours, but it was too late when I realized that I wanted help. Anyway, I really hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter. 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. I have used far more quotes from the Little Mermaid in this chapter than in any other. Be aware that I did not write those lines.

Lily awoke to the sun shining through her translucent white curtains. She quickly remembered her excursion in Diagon Alley the previous day. Thinking about Diagon Alley reminded her of James, the thought of whom brought a smile to her face. She got up and showered before putting on her favourite pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She then made her way down to the kitchen, humming her favourite song, and found her father sitting at the table drinking coffee. "Morning, Daddy," she greeted with a kiss on his cheek. She resumed her humming, grabbing an apple before heading back up to her room.

Edward watched his daughter practically dance out of the room. When she was out of sight, he turned to Petunia. "Is she okay?"

Petunia merely rolled her eyes and sighed in a 'men are so clueless' way. "Isn't it obvious, Daddy? Lily's in love."

"Lily? In love?" He was left to ponder this thought when Petunia abruptly left, calling out from the front door, "I'm going to Vernon's. I'll be back later." He wondered who Lily could be in love with. She had gone to an all-girls school, so it couldn't be someone from there. He figured that it must be the son of one of the politicians. After all, she met more young men at the parties than anywhere else. He was roused from his pondering by a knock at the door, and figuring that Lily was probably up in her room daydreaming and wouldn't get the door, he went to open it, finding Sylvia on the other side.

"Hello, Sylvia."

"Hello, sir. How are you today?"

"I'm okay. Say, you wouldn't happen to know anything about Lily's odd behaviour, would you?"

"Lily's acting oddly?" she asked, laughing nervously. "That's weird." Suddenly she had come down with a case of nerves that she hadn't gotten since she had first become friends with Lily and met her father, the Prime Minister.

"Yes. She's been prancing about here, singing to herself. It's almost as if she's in love. Now, would you care to tell me about it?" He was pretending to be really serious about it, and he could tell that his daughter's best friend was becoming very agitated. He felt slightly sorry for her, but he would let her out of her misery as soon as he found the answer he was looking for.

On Sylvia's part, she was not doing too well. She finally broke down, unable to hold it in any longer. "I don't know what's _wrong_ with her. That girl just won't listen to reason. I tried to tell her that the wizarding world didn't exist, but she insisted, and then she dragged me there, and now she's in love with a _wizard_. It's insane. I –"

Since Edward had been pretending to be angry before, Sylvia didn't notice his abrupt change in manner. "She's _what_?" he screamed, not waiting for an answer but instead bounding up the stairs two at a time and barging in Lily's room. What he found angered him beyond belief. There sat Lily with a smile on her face, clutching a small stuffed Merlin to her chest. She must have sensed the tension in the air, because her face suddenly fell and she slowly opened her eyes. It was apparent that she knew that whatever she would find would not be good, and she was right. Her father stood at her door looking very angry. "Daddy, I –"

"I made my disapproval of this fantasy of yours very clear from the start, Lily, and you blatantly ignored me. And now, you've made a mockery of every rule that I've ever set for you. You disobeyed me, Lily. I'll never be able to trust you again. How could you go into the wizarding world? Andhow could you fall in love with one of – with one of _them_." The word rolled off his tongue like it was dirt.

"You told me that there was no such thing as wizards. How could you lie to me?"

"It was for your own good, Lily. They are dangerous people. I forbid you to go anywhere near their world ever again. I am going to get through to you, Lily, and if this is the only way, then so be it." On that note, he grabbed Lily's collection of magical things out of her hand and, ignoring her screams and pleas, left the room to dispose of it.

Sylvia watched her friend burst into tears and flop down on her head, burying her face in her arms. "Lily, I –"

"Go away!" Lily yelled, lifting her head to throw a dirty look at her friend. "You told him. I can't believe you told him." With that, she threw her head back into her arms and started sobbing.

"I didn't mean to tell, really. It was an accident. I'm so sorry, Lily. Please, you have to –"

"Just go, please."

Unable to refuse her friend anything at the moment, Sylvia quietly left the room. She definitely did not want to run into Lily's father again, so she discretely let herself out of the house, wiping away the few stray tears from her cheeks on her way out.

Lily was roused from her sleep by a loud cracking noise coming somewhere from in her room. She was very confused and disoriented, as she didn't even remember falling asleep. She looked at the clock, reading 2:30 a.m., and realized that she had slept through dinner. Remembering the events of the morning, she couldn't help but feel resentful toward her father, and to be glad that she hadn't gone down to dinner and had to face him. Curious as to what the noise had been that had awoken her, she glanced around the room only start at the sight of two men standing near her door watching her. "W-what do you want f-from me?" she asked fearfully, unable to disguise the tremble in her voice."

"Don't fear, Lily," said the taller one. "We only want to help."

"How do you know my name?" she asked him, at the same time looking from his long blond hair to his aristocratic face to his robes that were not unlike the many she had seen in Diagon Alley, and finding it all very unnerving.

"Lord Voldemort knows all, child."

"Lord Voldemort?"

"Lord Voldemort is very powerful," said the other man, who sported similar robes. "He knows all of you problems. He wants to help you."

"He wants to –"

"Help you, yes," replied the blond. "All you have to do is come with us."

Lily was having a battle inside herself, but she tried hard not to let it show on her face. It was all just a little fishy, so much like the situations she had been told to avoid from the time she was very young. What if these men were here to kidnap her for ransom money? The daughter of the Prime Minister was, after all, a very precious commodity. But she wanted so much just to see James again, even if just once more. And it would serve her father right if she did get kidnapped, and right under his very nose, too. Maybe then he would feel remorse for ruining her life and destroying her most prized possessions.

She opened her mouth to reply but changed her mind at the last moment, closing her lips and setting her face in determination. "No."

"Pardon me, but –"

"I said no! Get out of here! Leave me alone!"

"Suit yourself," the blond said easily, waving off a look of disbelief from the other man. "It was only a suggestion. Have fun wallowing in your misery."

The men were clearly preparing to leave, but stopped at the sound of Lily's voice. "Wait!"

"Yes?" inquired the blond, his lips turning up in a malevolent grin.

"This Lord Voldemort, he's not dangerous, is he?"

"Of course not," replied the shorter man, exchanging an amused glance with the blond, which Lily missed.

"I'll go."

"Very well," said the blond. We'd better get going then. Lord Voldemort does not like to be kept waiting. Grab my arm."

Lily did as instructed and let out a gasp of surprise as she felt the sensation of being pushed inward from all directions. She was slightly disoriented but at the same time relieved when the feeling stopped, and she took the opportunity to look around and get her bearings. The blond man still had her arm, though, and he dragged her toward a dark room, stopping at the doorway. A raven-haired man sat in a high-backed, throne-like chair. He had a very commanding face and unusually red eyes, and Lily found him very intimidating.

"Thank you, Lucius, Avery. You may go." He had a very creepy voice, and it sent chills down Lily's spine.

"But, my Lord –"

"Do you dare to disobey me? I said go." Both men bowed low before him before turning and walking away.

"Come in, come in my child. I've been expecting you," said Lord Voldemort when they had gone."

Lily was reluctant to enter, but seeing as she did not want to find out what would happen if she disobeyed, she promptly did as asked.

"You are a very bright girl, Lily Evans."

"How so?"

"You managed to get into the wizarding world, a feat that no muggle has ever achieved. In fact, very few have even suspected its existence. And now, you are in quite a predicament. You have fallen in love with a wizard."

"I don't know what to do. Not to be rude, but I really don't know why I'm here."

"Isn't it obvious, Lily? The only way to get what you want is to become a witch yourself."

"Can you do that?"

"Don't question me. I am Lord Voldemort. There is no limit to my powers." Lily apologized to him. He did not seem like the type of person she wanted to anger. "Here's the deal," he continued. "I'll cast a spell on you that will turn you into a witch for three days. Got that? Three days. Before the sun sets on the third day, you've got to get James to fall in love with you…that is, he's got to kiss you. Not just any kiss…the kiss of true love. If he does, you will remain witch permanently. If not, you turn back into a muggle and you belong to me."

Unwilling to ask the question as to what belonging to him would entail, Lily remained silent. She had a feeling that this was one of those things she really didn't want to know. "Okay" was all she could say.

"Wonderful! Come closer." Lily obeyed, and she found herself being tapped on the head by Voldemort's wand, producing a sensation rather like her blood turning to ice starting with her head and ending at her toes. She was freezing when the spell had finished, but Voldemort, who could see her shivering, assured her that the feeling would wear off soon. While she was occupied rubbing her arms to try to warm up, Voldemort discretely pointed his wand at her and muttered something inaudible, but Lily was unaware as she wasn't paying attention.

"Lily," Voldemort called, causing her to look up, "it is time." With that, he pointed his wand at Lily and said a spell that she obviously didn't recognize, causing her to black out.

I want to say thank you again to those who reviewed. It's really helpful and encouraging. If you have any suggestions for this story, please let me know. I've left the review responses up from chapters one and two, but I've now added those for chapter three. I hope you liked this chapter. Please review.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own the characters or the basic plot.

* * *

Lily groggily opened her eyes and sat up, feeling very disoriented. She soon regretted doing so. Her heart dropped as she realized that her surroundings were unfamiliar and that Lord Voldemort and the two men that had brought her to him were all absent. The wooden floor was hard on her butt, so she slowly stood, ignoring the slight bout of dizziness that resulted. Looking around, she spotted many people bustling about, and she was surprised that no one had even been looking at her on the ground. 

It was then that she noticed the many fireplaces placed strategically around the hall. She thought that it was odd since a fraction of the number of fireplaces could have kept the place warm. Upon seeing someone emerge from one of them, however, she realized that they were not meant for warmth. She knew that she must be in the magical world.

She started walking, directionless, just taking in her surroundings. She passed a fountain, its focus being a man and a woman with three strange creatures, and she noticed within its waters money unlike any that she had ever seen. She kept walking, and suddenly she heard a voice call out, "Can I help you?" She turned to see a man seated at a desk, knowing at once that he had been the one to address her.

"Umm…"

"Wand," he grunted.

"I…I don't have one," she replied hesitantly, wondering if it was a mistake to tell him that. She certainly didn't like the strange look he was giving her.

"Wandless?" he inquired.

Assuming that he was confirming that she was without a wand, she replied by nodding and missed the look of respect that passed fleetingly across his face.

He then pointed toward a dark square area on the desk and instructed her to place her hand on it. She did so, still rather confused, and was surprised when a strip of paper came out of a slit on his side of the desk, rather like a receipt. "Yes," he commented. "Very powerful." Lily didn't really know what he meant, but she didn't want to seem ignorant, so she nodded again.

"Excuse me," she said, interrupting his reading of the slip, which was beginning to make her nervous, "but I really must be going. Thank you for your help."

She made her way over to between two fireplaces, sat down with her back against the wall and stared at the fountain. She thought about her situation. She didn't know where she was, she didn't know how to get home – nor did she want to go there – and, most importantly, she had no money. She stared at the fountain, seeing numerous families approach it together, the parents handing their children a few coins to drop in. A few tears fell from her eyes. She missed her sister and her father.

She remembered back to when she was a child, a time when her father had been so supportive of her fantasies regarding magic. "Make a wish Lily." "You never know, maybe someday you'll kiss a frog and – _poof!_ – a prince." He had never once told her that magic wasn't real, and even as she grew older he would encourage her to keep believing. He had been the one to buy her that stuffed Merlin that had made him so angry just yesterday. It had been a present for her 10thbirthday, and although Petunia had laughed at her for being excited about receiving a toy, she loved it.

Not long after that, her father had been elected Prime Minister. He had come home after his first night in office to find her watching Sleeping Beauty, and he had sat next to her on the couch with a far-off expression on his face. He looked tired and stressed, and Lily tried to cheer him up. "I wish that fairies had blessed me with special gifts when I was a baby. She had been expecting her father to be his typical self and smile and assure her that she _had_ been blessed by fairies. Instead, his face grew cold and hard, and his eyes locked onto hers as he spoke to her forcefully. "There is no such thing as magic, Lily, do you understand?" She had just stared at him in shock, unable to move, and taking it for denial, he had continued. "You are getting older now and we have to put an end to this silliness. Magic does _not_ exist." He had left the room then, never to know how he had broken her heart that night.

She never was able to figure out what had happened, what had changed. All she knew was that in a matter of one day, her father had gone from one extreme to the other concerning magic, and it had changed the whole dynamic of her relationship with him for the worse.

She was startled out of her memories by someone asking if she was okay. She cursed herself inwardly for forgetting that she was not alone and wiped the tears off her cheeks with her hand before looking up to see a man gazing at her with concern in his warm brown eyes. Helooked very familiar with his messy brown hair, but she couldn't recall ever meeting him before.

She opened her mouth to reply, but she couldn't. She couldn't say that she was okay, and she _wouldn't_ say that she was not. She sat there with her mouth open instead.

"The ministry is closing up for the night. Everyone is going home."

"I…" again she could not form a coherent sentence.

"Would you like me to help you get home?"

She stared at him for a long while before finally responding, "I have no home to go to."

"Do you want me to take you to the Leaky Cauldron so that you can get a room?"

"I haven't got any money."

"That settles it then. You'll come to my house. My wife will make you a nice warm meal, and we have plenty of extra room."

"Oh no, I couldn't."

"I insist."

"I don't want to impose. I'll be fine, really."

"Nonsense. As I said, we have plenty of extra room."

"I don't know who you are."

She saw a fleeting look of surprise pass through his eyes, but it was gone so fast that she wasn't sure that she hadn't just imagined it. "Richard Potter," he said, offering her his hand.

She shook it and replied, "Lily Evans."

"Wonderful," he exclaimed, pulling her up and leading her to one of the fireplaces. "Now, the address is Potter Manor."

"Great. How are we going to get there?"

"We're going to floo, of course."

"Floo?"

"You've never flooed before?"

"No," she whispered.

"Would you prefer to apparate?" She shook her head, not wanting him to know that she did not know how to apparate either. "Very well. Take a handful of that powder there and throw it into the fireplace. Then say, 'Potter Manor' and step in. Mind you speak clearly, now, and make sure you keep your eyes closed or you'll get ash in them."

Lily did as instructed, becoming nauseous as she began to spin. Finally, she started to slow down, and she lost her balance as she came to an abrupt stop and stumbled out of another fireplace. She already knew that this was not an experience that she wanted to repeat. She would have gotten hit in the back if she hadn't been pulled away just in time by a woman that she knew must be Richard's wife: Richard emerged from the fireplace just seconds later, coughing.

"I'm not sure I'll ever get used to that," he commented, stepping forward to kiss his wife.

"Hello, dear," Caroline greeted. "How was your day?"

"Oh, the usual. Mostly problems with death eaters and muggle torture." Seeing that his wife kept shooting glances behind him, he turned around to spot Lily and remembered that he had yet to introduce her. "I'm sorry. Introductions are in order. Lily, this is my wife Caroline. Darling, this is Lily Evans." He gave her a look that said 'don't ask' and, understanding it to mean that he'd tell her when they were alone, she called for the house elf.

"Dotty, please bring Lily upstairs and have her pick one of the spare bedrooms."

Dotty gave a small bow and motioned for Lily to follow her.

"So?" Caroline prompted when she and Richard were left in the room.

"I found her at the ministry. She was sitting against the wall with a far off look on her face and tears in her eyes. She had no money to go to the Leaky Cauldron and she said that she had no home to go to. I couldn't just leave her there. I figured that at least she could stay here for a few days, get some rest and some good food."

"I just wish that you had called ahead. It was very frightening watching a complete stranger stumble out of our fireplace. You could have come first and warned me."

"She'd never used floo before."

"Alright, dear. Go get washed up. I'll go set an extra place at the table."

* * *

Lily sat on the bed in the corner of the room she had chosen. The room was one of the smaller ones, but it was still larger than her bedroom at home, and she had immediately fallen in love with it. 

The walls were a very faint blue, and the ceiling looked like the night sky. The bed was in the furthest corner from the door and was covered by a white down comforter and two matching down pillows. Between the bed and the wall was a night table with a small lamp on it. On the other side of the bed was a large window covered by white curtains. Jutting out from the window was a large ledge bearing two pillows on each side. It was obviously large enough for two people to sit on. Beside that, in the far right corner of the room was a large wardrobe, next to which was a door. The door opened up to reveal a large walk in closet, and beside it was a ceiling-high bookshelf made of the same dark wood as the night table and the wardrobe. Finally, the floor was covered in the softest carpet Lily's feet had ever had the pleasure to touch.

Lily's attention was drawn to the door, where she saw the house elf that had brought her upstairs. "Dotty is to tell Miss Evans that dinner is ready. Please come downstairs and join the family in the dining room."

"Thank you. And please call me Lily."

Dotty bowed wordlessly and exited the room. Lily, who did not want to get lost and end up late for dinner quickly got up and followed the house elf.

"Did you find a suitable room?" Caroline asked, motioning for her to sit in the chair opposite Richard.

"Yes, thank you. You have a beautiful house."

"Thank you, dear. Oh, that must be James," she said, hearing the door open. "I'll be right back.

"Hey, Mom," James said, seeing her approaching. "I brought Sirius home today. His fridge is completely empty and he needs a good meal."

"What is it with people and bringing home guests today?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, just that your father brought home a girl he found at work today."

James' face darkened. "He's not trying to…"

"No, dear, don't worry. It's not that at all. Anyways, come in, the both of you. It's nice to see you again, Sirius."

"I knew you missed having me around. Never fear, Sirius is here!"

"Sirius, how couldI miss having you around? I still think you're here more than you are at your own flat. You even sleep here half the time! I don't know why you moved out."

"Well, I thought that I could stay away, but your charming personality, your hospitable nature, and your delicious food keep me coming back."

"Be careful with all those big words, Padfoot. You might trip over one of them."

"Be careful with the insults, Prongs. You just might trip over my foot."

"Boys, stop it. Remember that we have company."

"Yes, Mum," they chorused, following her into the dining room.

"Hey!" exclaimed Sirius, pointing at Lily. "She's sitting in my spot!"

"Sirius!" James' mother admonished with a stern look. He lowered his arm.

"Oops," he addressed James in a loud whisper, "did I say that out loud?"

James whacked his friend on the back of the head, walking over to sit in the new place that his mother had set beside Lily. "Yes, idiot. Come on, you can sit in my place. I'll be the bigger person." Sirius sat down across from James' mother in James' usual seat. "I did that on purpose, you know," He said to the older woman. "Just so I could look at your beautiful face all through dinner." Richard reached over and whacked him on the back of the head. "Ouch! What is with people and hitting me today?"

"It's your own fault.It's a result of the stupid things you say."

"What if I end up with brain damage? It'll be your fault and then you'll feel sorry, all of you!"

"It's a little late for that, Padfoot."

Caroline shook her head and rolled her eyes at her son and her'son'.

"I'm sorry, Lily. James is more normal when Sirius isn't around, and Sirius…well, there's really no excuse for him."

Lily laughed, already knowing well how true that was.

James turned in his seat to face her, sticking out his hand for her to shake. "Hi. I'm James Potter."

Shewas slightly confused. She couldn't figure out why he didn't recognize her. She tried to remind him that they had met, but she found herself inexplicably unable to mention that day in Diagon Alley, so instead, she stuck out her own hand. "Lily Evans."

* * *

I hope you liked this chapter. Thank you again to all my reviewers. Check my bio page for review responses. Please review and let me know what you think.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: It never changes. I don't own anything you recognize.

* * *

Lily sat on the Potters' couch after dinner, staring into the fire with a soft blanket wrapped around her. Her mind kept drifting back to the fight with her father. It had been only yesterday, but it felt like forever ago. As angry as she was with him and as hurt as she was that he couldn't even try to understand her position, she missed him greatly. She wondered if he was worrying about her right now, if he really did think that she'd been kidnapped. 

Thinking about the fight reminded her of Sylvia and of how she'd brushed her off. She truly did believe that Sylvia hadn't meant to tell her father of their excursion to Diagon Alley; she had just been upset at the time. She felt bad now for yelling at Sylvia, and even more so for not telling her that she was leaving. She wished that she could contact her best friend, but that was going to be impossible. She had no idea how to get home from here, and she really didn't want to ask. She felt bad for telling Richard Potter that she had no home, but it was the only think she could think of.

The other thing that was bothering her was James. She had gone to Voldemort because she liked James and wanted to see him again, and Voldemorthad made her a witch in order to make that possible. Now, she had inadvertently ended up at his house. To any outsider, it would seem like the ideal situation. The problem was that he didn't remember her, and she couldn't figure out why. She had met him only a couple of days ago and had spent hours with him. Why would he forget her already? It also unnerved her that when she had tried to tell him that they had met before, she had found her mouth unable to form the words. It was almost as though something was preventing her from saying anything. And Sirius didn't recognize her either, which made the situation even more strange, if that was possible.

"Are you okay?"

She turned away from the fire and was startled to see James sitting next to her on the couch, bearing a curious expression.

"How long have you been there?"

"A few minutes."

"I didn't notice you come in."

"You looked pretty deep in thought. Is it anything you want to talk about?"

"Not really."

"Dad told me that you don't have a wand. He was told that you do wandless magic. You must be pretty powerful."

"What? I can't even do magic WITH a wand. What makes you think that I could do it without one?"

"The employee at the Ministry told my dad that you said you were wandless. And what do you mean that you can't do magic with a wand either. Aren't you a witch?"

"I did. I was confirming that I was without a wand. And umm…"

"You must be a witch, or you wouldn't have been able to get into the Ministry."

"I am. I just…I never learned magic."

"Didn't you go to school?"

"Umm…" Lily had to think really quickly. She couldn't tell James about her father, because she doubted that a witch could have non-magical parents. "My parents died before I would have started school. I…I didn't have anyone to take me in, so I was adopted by non-magical people."

"But if your parents were wizards and you are a witch, you would have been down on the list for Hogwarts, even if you were living with muggles. Didn't you get a letter when you turned eleven?"

"Hogwarts?"

"Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You don't know about it?"

"No…umm…the…muggles...must not have understood when the letter came," she lied uncertainly, hoping that that 'muggles' was the right word to use. "They must have thrown it out. I…I forgot about the wizarding world. I dreamt about it last night, and it all came flooding back to me. I needed to come back. I couln't pretend that this world didn't exist when I had finally remembered it."

"Wow. I can't imagine never having learned magic. Maybe I could teach you some simple spells and things like that. We're going through dark times right now, and it's really important to be able to defend yourself."

"I would like that."

"How about we take a trip to Diagon Alley tomorrow and see about getting a wand for you?'

"Sure," she replied, getting up. "I'm going to go to bed now. I'm pretty tired. I'll see you in the morning."

"Alright," he replied.

She folded up the blanket she had been using and returned it to its position on the back of the couch. She turned around and was about to head upstairs but changed her mind at the last minute. She turned back. "Thanks, James," she said softly before leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. Even if he didn't remember her, she still liked him.

James sat there quite shocked as he watched her leave the room. He found his voice just as she reached the doorway, and he called out, "Sleep well."

She turned and smiled at him, giving him a slight wave before heading upstairs to her room.

James, who remained seated on the couch, reached a hand up to touch his cheek. There was something mysteriously familiar about the way his heart had fluttered when she had kissed him, and he couldn't figure out what it was. He sat there for a long time thinking about her before realizing how late it was and heading up to bed.

* * *

James was sitting at the table eating breakfast with his mom when Lily came down the next morning wearing the same clothes she'd had on the previous day. 

"Come have some pancakes, Lily," James beckoned after swallowing his food.

She smiled and obliged, taking the same seat as she had last night at dinner. She poured herself a glass of the orange juice that was on the table, put a couple of pancakes on her plate, and contentedly began to eat. "This is delicious, Mrs. Potter," she commented.

"Thank you, dear. Call me Caroline, please. I actually convinced Dotty to let me make breakfast this morning. I can't believe it. Anyway, James told me that he's taking you to Diagon Alley to get a wand today. I'll send some extra money along and you can buy a few changes of clothes. We don't want you to have to wear the same thing all the time."

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I'll pay you back as soon as I get some money."

"Don't be silly. Consider it a gift."

The rest of breakfast was eaten in relative silence until Lily got up and went to the sink to wash her dishes.

"Lily Evans doesn't do dishes!" Dotty cried. "Dotty will take care of it."

Lily obediently stepped away from the sink, inwardly marveling at how quickly Dotty had appeared.

"Are you going to be okay flooing to Diagon Alley, Lily?" James asked her, setting his dishes on the counter for Dotty to wash.

"Yes, I think so."

"Okay, let me just go grab my wand and we'll go."

He ran up to his room to retrieve his wand, returning quickly. It was decided that he would go through the fireplace first, allowing his mother to help Lily and leaving him free to meet her on the other side.

Once he had gone through, Caroline motioned for Lily to take a handful of floo powder. "Now, step in and say, 'Diagon Alley.' Make sure you speak clearly or you might end up somewhere else."

Lily, dreading the spinning sensation and the ash in her eyes that she was sure to experience, squeezed her eyes tightly shut and stepped into the hearth. "Diagon Alley." This trip was slightly better than her last as she was able to avoid getting ash in her eyes, but the spinning still made her nauseous. Finally, she stumbled out of another fireplace and, unsurprisingly, landed flat on her butt. She looked up to see James staring at her, obviously trying to keep a straight face, and she scowled at him.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Oh yes," she replied wryly, rolling her eyes. "I'm fine. My butt doesn't hurt at all."

His face broke out in a teasing grin and he let out a low chuckle. "Good. Because that was really, really funny."

She tried to scowl at him again, but she found herself unable to keep the smile off of her face and the laughter out of her voice as she replied, "Oh, just help me up, you doofus."

"Now that's not very nice," he laughed. "I'm not so sure I want to help you up anymore."

"I'm sorry," she said, but the grin on her face made the apology a little less than sincere.

"Oh, that was weak."

"Forgive me, James Potter. I know I can do better. You are the handsomest, most charming gentleman I've ever met and I would absolutely die if you weren't here to help me off this cold, hard floor."

"Much better!" he exclaimed, offering his hand and pulling her up, only to have her crash into him.

Lily looked up into his eyes, feeling a jolt in her stomach that she was sure was not just a side effect of her floo journey. She effectively broke the spell with a mischievous grin, informing him, "You're the most gullible chap I ever met, too." James just stood there with his mouth open. She let out a laugh before closing it for him and grabbing his arm, leading him off. "Come on, James, I need to get a wand before the next millennium, okay?"

James found himself following her, unable to think of anything but her hand in his, until she abruptly stopped and he bumped right into her. "What's wrong?" he inquired.

"Well, as much as I enjoy leading people around places that I don't know, I really think I ought to let you show me where to buy a wand before I get us both lost."

He chuckled and led her over to the wand shop, and as soon as they entered they were approached by Ollivander. His wide, silvery eyes quite frightened Lily as they appeared to gaze into her soul. "Umm…hello," she spoke unsurely. "I need a wand." The last part was spoken almost like a question, but the elderly man paid that no mind.

"Name?" he asked her.

"Lily…Lily Evans."

"Mm, yes, a bit overdue, aren't we?"

Assuming that he was referring to the fact that she was much older than the children starting school – Hogwarts, James had called it – she simply nodded and replied, "Better late than never."

He nodded before turning and searching through the many rows of boxes that lined the walls, finally pulling one out, opening it, and handing the wand inside to Lily. Not knowing what to do with it, she stood there stupidly until he urged her to wave it a bit, grabbing it from her almost immediately after she did. She was a little taken aback; nonetheless, she did the same thing with the next one, which he informed her was maple and dragon heartstring, eight inches.

The results were the same, and she continued trying wandswith no success until Ollivander handed her one that he said was willow, ten and a quarter inches, and swishy. She took the wand from him, instantly feeling a warmth in her finger tips. She waved it the same as she had all the others, but this time red and gold sparks shot out the end, and she knew that this was the wand for her even before Ollivander told her so. "You'll be a wiz at charms with that wand!" he exclaimed. She smiled, staring at her wand and not really paying attention, while James paid for it and led her out of the store.

"So, what now?" James asked her, falling into a comfortable pace beside her.

"I need to buy some clothes."

He took her to Madam Malkin's, where she quickly decided that she was not a fan of wizard's robes.

"Just buy one set in case you need them, then, and I'll take you to muggle London to buy some muggle clothes."

Lily agreed and ended up choosing a simple set of black robes. She watched James pay Madam Malkin, calling out a polite "thank you" to the woman before leaving with him.

They took a quick detour to Gringotts to exchange some money into muggle money then headed toward the exit from Diagon Alley. When they approached the brick wall that Lily knew would turn into an archway, James turned to her and asked, "Would you like to do the honours with your new wand?"

"Sure," she replied hesitantly, "But I don't know which bricks to…"

"Say no more. It's James Potter to the rescue!" he pronounced, pointing with his finger to the bricks that needed to be tapped in order to activate the wall.

She barely managed to say "My hero" in a soft, breathy voice before dissolving into giggles. Once she had composed herself, she used her newly acquired wand to tap the bricks in the proper sequence. When the wall began to turn into the archway that she remembered, she squealed in delight and launched herself into James' arms. He looked mildly shocked for a moment before he laughed and returned her hug. It was then that her brain caught up with her impulses and she realized what she was doing. She let go of him reluctantly, blushing, and silently led the way through the Leaky Cauldron and into Muggle London.

James was playing the part of confused male very well. He found himself attracted to Lily, but for one thing, he kept getting mixed signals from her, and for another, he still couldn't forget about the girl who had saved his life. He shook his head, deciding not to think about it, and let her lead him to what she claimed was her favourite clothing shop.

For her part, Lily felt very bad about using James' mother's money to buy herself clothes when she had more than enough clothes not a 30 minute walk away. She eased her conscience slightly by reminding herself that she couldn't go home and run the risk of running into Petunia, or worse, her father. James thought that she had been raised by muggles who were not her parents, and she doubted that her father would go along with _that _little story.

James waited patiently while Lily tried on a few outfits, grateful that she chose quickly. She tended to know what she liked and what she didn't, and he liked that about her. She would put on an outfit, look in the mirror, nod or shake her head, and go back to try on another one. She rarely asked if he liked something, which showed confidence, and it made her all the more attractive to him.

"So," he started, once he had paid and they had left the shop, "I've still got some money left and I'm bored. What's there to do around here?"

"We could go see a movie," she suggested.

"What's that?"

"You go sit in a dark room with lots of other people and you look up at a big screen while people that you don't know act out impossible or funny or scary or romantic scenarios."

"That's supposed to be fun?"

"Oh, just come on," she said. "You'll like it, I promise."

When they approached the movie theatre, they got in line, and James appeared to be observing the other people buying tickets. When the couple in front of them left with their tickets, he started to approach the boy with the funny clothes sitting behind the counter. "What are you doing?" Lily hissed. "Just watch an old pro and see how it's done," he said, and Lily buried her face in her hands, not knowing if she could watch.

James stood at the counter, staring at the boy who was looking at him with a bored expression on his face. Finally, the employee got annoyed with James staring at him. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yes. We're going to see a movie," James replied, gesturing towards Lily. Then, reading the boy's nametag, he added, "Bob."

"Which one?"

"The one in the dark," he replied, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

James fumbled around in his pocket, pulling put a quarter and setting it down on the counter, looking at Bob expectantly.

"Did you need to make a phonecall, sir?" asked the employee dryly, rolling his eyes.

By this time, Lily had looked up, unable to tear her eyes away from the disaster going on in front of her, and frozen in place. She finally snapped out of it upon hearing a man behind her yell at James to hurry up. Putting on her best exasperated but flirty smile, she sauntered up to James.

"A phonecall, what's a..."

But he never got to finish his question, as Lily interrupted him. "James, sweetie, stop teasing the poor boy," she said in an obviously fake girly voice, and then giggled, turning her attention to Bob. "Sorry," she said. "My boyfriend here's a bit of a nutcase. We'll have two tickets to the Princess Bride." She reached intoJames' pocket to get out the money, ignoring the surprised look onhis face, and smiled at Bob when she handed him enough. "Keep the change as a tip for putting up with him," she said, gesturing toward James. Bob gave her the tickets and she led James off. He was looking at her incredulously, like she had grown another head.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"What _was _that?"

"Damage control. In case you haven't noticed, you are a complete buffoon. Now, I want some popcorn. Let me order this time so you don't make a complete fool of yourself."

They managed to buy popcorn and get seats in the theatre without any further incident, but everything had taken them so long that by the time they sat down and were comfortable, the movie was just starting.

All through the movie, James kept making comments like, "What an idiot,""As if that would ever happen,""I want a sword,""What kind of weirdo has six fingers?""Why doesn't Westley just turn him into a newt or something?" or, herfavourite,"R.O.U.S's? And yet theses muggles think wizards and witches are far fetched." Finally, Lily decided to shut him up by throwing popcorn at him.

"James, ixnay on the agicmay," she hissed.

"What on the what?" he asked, a little too loudly.

The guy in front of them turned around and glared at them. "Would you two shut up!" As soon as he turned back to watch the movie, James stuck out his tongue at the man and threw some of Lily's popcorn at the back of his head.

Lily tried not to laugh but she couldn't help it. "James," she admonished through her giggles, a little louder than she meant to. "Don't throw popcorn at people."

"But you…" James never got to finish his sentence because he was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. "Hi, Bob!" he said upon seeing the familiar boy with the funny shirt.

* * *

"I can't believe you got me kicked out of a movie!" Lily exclaimed when they were out on the sidewalk again. 

"Oh, come on. Admit that you had fun."

"I didn't get to see the end of the movie!"

"But you still had more fun than you've ever had before in your entire life, right?"

She couldn't help the grin that broke out on her face. She hit him playfully on the arm. "You're a nut, you know that?"

"As long as you don't try to eat me," he replied with a cheeky grin.

She groaned at the lame joke and began dragging him back toward the Leaky Cauldron. "Let's just get out of Muggle London before you blab all your secrets for the entire world to hear."

* * *

Thank you again to my reviewers. You guys made my day - well, days actually. Again, see my bio page for my responses. Anyways, about the movie, I do realize that the Princess Bride isn't quite the right time frame, but it was the only semi-old movie that I could think of. Just be glad that I didn't make the movie something that's out in theatres now, or worse, try to be cute and have them go see Harry Potter. So please review and let me know what you think, and in return, I'll get the next chapter out as soon as possible. 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Harry Potter or the Little Mermaid.

* * *

"James, where are we?" Lily asked, looking up at the decrepit old building and wondering how much – or little – it would take before it would collapse. It was late afternoon and they had finally returned from the muggle world. It was now time for James to teach Lily a few spells, so they needed a place to go, which resulted in her and James standing in front of this building that was clearly on its last legs. 

"The shrieking shack," he replied in a way that practically shouted 'ta da!'

"That's an awful name. Why do they call it that?"

He shrugged. "People think it's haunted…It's not," he added, seeing the look on her face.

"Can't we go practice magic somewhere a little more…sturdy?"

"It's fine, Lily. I've been here hundreds of times, and it's never collapsed on my head."

"What on earth would make you come here hundreds of times?"

"Would you believe me if I said I really like the décor?"

"No."

"Didn't think so. Now, this really is the perfect place. No one will come here."

"Yes, and it's not difficult to see why, is it?"

"Just come on. I promise that there's nothing to be afraid of."

"I'm not afraid," she said indignantly. "And by the way James, I'm not daft. I know that you never did answer my question."

"Can't get anything past you, can I? Oh, look, we're here."

Lily rolled her eyes but dropped it, knowing that she wasn't going to find out any big secret any time soon. "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Now that I've seen the inside of this place, I can't remember what we were talking about before. I've been distracted by theabsolutely _wonderful _décor. It doesn't help that you smell like peanuts either. I just want to eat you right up."

She couldn't contain her laughter anymore when she saw the look on his face.

"I'm just kidding, James. There's no need to call the Society for the Protection of Humans against Cannibalism. That's what you get for making a lame joke this afternoon."

"Well, thank goodness for that. I mean, think of the sorrow female kind would have to endure if you ate me and marred my beautiful face."

"Yes, well, I think that when they looked at the big picture, they'd see that I'd really done them a favour. After all, then they wouldn't have to put up with your lame jokes and big head."

"I do not have a big head!" he protested, reaching up to touch it. "My hair just makes it look bigger because it sticks up all the time."

Lily laughed. "I didn't mean literally! It was a figure of speech. Now, are you going to teach me some spells, or are we here risking being killed by a cave-in just so that we can argue – which, keep in mind, we could do perfectly well outside."

"Touché. Now," he continued, clearing his throat. "The first thing you must do in order to do any magic is…take out your wand, like so."

"Wow, James," she commented, copying him. "That was so difficult. I'm so glad that you demonstrated for me."

"Next," hecontinued, ignoring her sarcasm, "you must decide which spell you want to cast. Have you decided, Lily?" he asked.

Now it was her turn to stare at him like he had grown another head. "Are you daft?" she asked incredulously. "I don't know any spells!"

"Oh…right. Okay, well, let's start with the disarming spell. The incantation is expelliarmus."

"Okay. Expelliarmus."

"Right. Now you have to say it while moving your arm like this," he instructed, showing her the correct wand movement.

She tried unsuccessfully to disarm James numerous times before growing exasperated. "I can't do it," she pouted.

"Yes, you can," he replied. "You just have to keep trying. Go on, try again."

Another five unsuccessful attempts caused her spirits to sink even more, but she was delighted when her sixth attempt caused James to stagger back a few steps and his wand to land on the floor a few feet in front of him. "I did it!" she squealed.

"Great," he said, giving her an encouraging smile. "Next we can practice the levitation spell." He looked around the room, spotting a small ball and pointing at it. "You can try to make that ball levitate. Accio," he said, and the ball flew into his outstretched hand."

"Ooo, I like that spell. Accio," she called, pointing her wand carelessly. She didn't think that it would work, so she was positively astonished when James came flying towards her and crashed into her with a loud "oomph."

Luckily Lily had been standing almost directly in front of the wall, so when James crashed into her they bumped into the wall instead of falling to the floor. "Well," she said, "if that didn't make the walls cave in, I think that we're safe."

James did not say anything but just nodded dumbly, and Lily realized what kind of position they were in. If she just tilted her head up a little bit…_no, _she admonished herself_…you like him, but he doesn't remember you…you like him, but he doesn't remember you_. Lily's heart was beating erratically and her legs felt like jelly, but she continued to tell herself to get further away from him. His smell was intoxicating, and she couldn't move because it was meddling with her brain functions. It appeared however, that Lily wasn't going to have to exercise any amount of self control, for James' lips were slowly but surely approaching hers.

"James, guess what?"

Lily and James jumped apart like similarly charged magnets, and James turned to glare at Peter, who was standing in the doorway and had the decency to look sheepish.

"I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"No, of course not," Lily managed. "James was just teaching me how to summon. I'm going to go back to your house, James. I'm pretty tired. Oh, and by the way," she added without turning around when she reached the doorway, "I didn't forget that you never answered my question. I just let it go because I obviously wasn't going to get a real answer out of you." With that, she disappeared from sight, and James turned to Peter, slightly annoyed.

"What's up, Wormtail?" he sighed.

"Oh…not much. I just wanted to tell you that I…umm…I finally passed my apparition test!"

"That's great, Wormtail, but you couldn't wait to tell me that? How did you know I was here, anyway?"

"I…umm…I…"

"Forget it, Wormtail. Let's just go."

"Well, actually, I…I have to…to be somewhere. I'm sorry, Prongs. I'll see you later." And seemingly as abruptly as he'd come Peter left, leaving James alone in the shrieking shack.

James slid down the wall so that he was still leaning on it but was now sitting on the ground. He closed his eyes and tried, to no avail, to block the thoughts that were threatening to wash over him. He had almost kissed Lily, and the truth was that he was more confused than ever, no closer to figuring out what he really wanted. He almost felt ashamed to admit that for most of today, he hadn't given a single thought to the girl who had saved his life.

James didn't notice that Sirius had come in and sat beside him until he said, "Hey, Prongs."

James opened his eyes and looked at his friend.

"Gee, first Wormtail, and now you. Do I send off some sort of signal to anyone within a five mile radius that says 'Hey, I'm in the shrieking shack'? Or am I just really predictable?"

"Nah, I ran into Wormtail in Diagon Alley and I asked if he'd seen you. He told me you were up here. He certainly seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere. I wonder where he could possibly have to be."

James shrugged. "You never know with him. He's been acting pretty odd lately."

"Yeah, but it's weird that he keeps acting like it's some big secret."

James just grunted noncommittally.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind, Prongsie. Talk to me."

"What do you think of Lily?"

"I think she's hot," Sirius replied bluntly. "What?" he continued when James glared at him. "You asked."

"I need to have a serious conversation here."

"Well then you've come to the right person…okay, okay, I'm listening."

"Well, I just…I…"

"Aw, does Prongsie have a crush on Lily?"

"I don't know! That's the problem. Every time I'm with her, I feel attracted to her, but then when she's gone and my thought process returns to normal, I remember the girl in Diagon Alley, the one who saved my life."

"The one who you practically fell in love with but whose name you never learned?"

James sighed, "Yes, Padfoot, that one."

"So you like Lily but you don't want to ask her out because you still like hothead?"

"Stop calling her hothead and yes."

"I'm sensing that there's more."

"I took her to Diagon Alley today to get a wand, and then we went into Muggle London so she could buy some clothes. After that she took me to the movies –"

"What's the –"

"It's not important. So anyway, we went to the movies, where we got kicked out. I don't think I've ever had so much fun." Seeing the horrified look on Sirius' face, he added, "Oh, don't give me that look.I meant with someone who isn't a Marauder."

Sirius nodded solemnly. "Good, okay, so continue."

"Right, well after the movie, I brought her to the shrieking shack so that I could teach her a few spells, and she inadvertently summoned me." Sirius snickered. "Oh, shut up. It was actually really good spell work considering it had taken her about 20 tries to disarm me, but it landed us in a rather awkward position. I almost kissed her, and then Peter walked in, effectively ruining the moment. She left, he stayed about a minute and then left and I sat here wondering what the hell is wrong with me. Then you came in."

"Prongs, listen to me. Lily is a nice girl, and you obviously feel something for her. You're probably never going to see hothead – er, that other girl – again. I mean really, you've got about a one in ten thousand chance of running into her again. I say just go for it with Lily. Now, come on," he continued, getting up and motioning for James to do the same. "Let's go to your house so I can eat while you practically give yourself an ulcer worrying about this."

"All you ever think about is food."

"I like life simple."

* * *

"Good work, Wormtail. Ugh, she's better than I thought. Even with the charm I placed on her so she won't be recognized and can't say anything, she's still got him eating out of the palm of her hand. At this rate, he'll be kissing her by sunset for sure! Well, it's time Voldemort took matters into his own hands. Wormtail, fetch me Vanessa." 

Wormtail nodded nervously and scurried from the room, returning moments later with a beautiful young brunette.

"Come closer, Vanessa." She obeyed. "I'm sure that you have heard rumors among your fellows of Lily Evans."

"Yes, Master," she confirmed, bowing her head.

"Then I'm sure that you can guess that she was never meant to succeed."

"Yes, Master."

"Stand up straight," he said, and she observed his command. He muttered something, pointing his wand at her, and she felt a strange sensation flow from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

"We no longer run the risk that the Minister's son will fall into the trap of the beautiful Lily Evans. He will be too distracted by the girl that saved his life in Diagon Alley." Vanessa smiled maliciously, bowing low before him once more and replying, "Yes, Master," before turning and leaving the room.

* * *

"Listen, Padfoot," James started as they were walking through Diagon Alley. "I need to be alone for a while to think things through. Just go back to my house and tell my mom that I'll be home soon. I'm sure that she'll give you something to satiate your hunger." 

Sirius laughed. "Yeah, okay Prongs. You're sure you'll be alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Okay, I'll see you later then." Sirius headed off to floo back to James' house, while James took off in a random direction.

James had had a great time with Lily today, and although he didn't want to forget the girl who had saved his life, it became harder and harder with every moment he spent with Lily. She made him happy, and she made him forget the bad things in his life. Each time he spent time with her, he became addicted to her presence, and he was left with the desire to spend more time with her.

He had been falling in love with the girl he had met in Diagon Alley, but now he was falling in love with Lily too, and he had finally realized that Sirius was right. He had to be realistic about the situation. He was not likely to ever see the girl that Sirius had dubbed 'hothead' ever again, and Lily was right there. He was going to ask Lily on a date, and he would see how things progressed with that relationship.

James felt a force pulling him in a different direction, so he followed it. Now that he had made a decision, he was surprised to find that he had no doubts that he'd made the right one. All he had needed was to let go of 'hothead'. He really liked Lily, and he would allow 'hothead' to fade into a distant memory.

At that moment, James was compelled to look up, and when he did, he forgot about everything that had happened – or almost happened – today. There, in front of the newly re-erected statue sat the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen, and he immediately recognized her as the girl who had saved him from the debris of that very same crumbling statue.

* * *

This week is my frosh week at university, so I wasn'tlikely to update until about Sunday, but I came on this morning before leaving, and whenI saw my wonderful reviews, I couldn't make you guys wait that long, so here is the next chapter. I'm sorry for any mistakes. I don't have time to check it that well. I hope you guys love it, because you probably won't be getting another one until at least Sunday (I don't have any ofthe next chapter written). I hope you guys can be patient, I hope the next chapter is worth the wait, and I hope that you know that you all rule. If you review this chapter, I'll feel motivated to write more, so please let me know what you think. A gazillion thanks to my reviewers for last chapter. My responses are on my bio page again. Or at least they will be by tomorrow. I have to go catch the bus now. 


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, yada, yada, yada.

* * *

"Hey, Moony," Sirius greeted Remus, who was sitting at the Potters' kitchen table. He plopped down in the seat opposite his friend and grabbed a piece of bacon off his plate. "What are you doing here?" 

"I came by pretty early this morning to see James, but his mom said that you were here too and that you were both still asleep."

"Yes, well, we were up pretty late last night. I'm surprised that James isn't up and screaming for joy to all who will listen, actually."

"Am I missing something?"

"James found the girl from Diagon Alley last night," Sirius explained, finishing the breakfast on Remus' plate. "Apparently her name is Vanessa and they are now dating."

Remus looked mildly surprised for a moment but he quickly recovered. "Well, that's great, right?"

"Don't you think it's a little odd that she suddenly showed up right when James was getting closer to Lily?"

"Of course I do, but is it really our business?"

"Hey, whomever James starts to date will have to hang out with us. Besides, we are his best friends. It's our job to look out for him and tell him when he's being a blind idiot."

"Yes, well, somehow I doubt that James will see it that way."

"I'm just saying that I think he should be careful. Vanessa is a witch, and if she had really wanted to find James after she saved his life, it wouldn't have been hard. He's the Minister's son for Merlin's sake. Everyone in the wizarding world knows who he is. Something's fishy about her story."

"I get that, Padfoot, I do, but we have to remember that he hasn't been able to stop thinking about this girl since he met her. Now that he's found her, he's not likely to let her just walk away again."

"I know that. And that's not exactly true."

"What do you mean?"

"I talked to him yesterday just before I came back here. Peter told me that he was in the shrieking shack, so I went up to find him, and he confessed that he had almost kissed Lily but that Wormtail interrupted them. Apparently he forgot about the girl from Diagon Alley the whole time that he was with Lily. He couldn't decide whether he wanted to take a chance with Lily or wait forever for a girl who might never show her face again. I was sure that he was leaning towards Lily when I left him, but then he comes home last night only to tell us that he's dating Vanessa. It's just really…" Sirius trailed off upon hearing a noise. "Did you hear that?"

"No," Remus replied, looking confused. "Hear what?"

"I'm sure that there was a noise outside the door." He got up and opened the door, finding that the plant that was sitting outside in the hall was knocked over. "Hey, Moony," he said, waiting for Remus to get up and join him before continuing, "Was that like that before?"

"No, I'm sure that it wasn't." The two of them wandered over to the living room and peeked in. They were just on time to see a distraught Lily disappear through the fireplace, but they were too late to hear where she was going.

Sirius stared at Remus with his mouth open for a few moments before saying, "Do you think she heard us?"

"I would bet everything I own on it."

Sirius winced. "That's what I thought."

* * *

Lily awoke to the sun shining through the sheer curtains, and rather than get up, she buried her face in her pillow and gave a halfhearted attempt to go back to sleep. Now that she was conscious, however, her brain insisted on dredging up thoughts of yesterdays events. Lily smiled as she thought of how close she had been to kissing James. She was so much closer to kissing him, and kissing him by the end of the day seemed more possible than it had yesterday morning. 

She finally lifted her head out of the pillow, deciding that breathing was more important than sleep. She lay on her back and stared at the ceiling thinking of things that she and James could do for the day, but her thoughts were soon interrupted by her stomach growling. She got out of bed and dressed in one of her new outfits and then headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. If James was going to kiss her today, she was not going to have bad breath.

She finally proceeded downstairs to the kitchen, and she stopped just outside the door to congratulate herself on not getting lost. She reached up to straighten her hair, taking a deep breath and composing herself so that she would be ready to see James. Just as she was about to push open the kitchen door, she heard Sirius' voice from inside, and she stopped automatically to hear what he was saying.

"…yesterday just before I came back here. Peter told me that he was in the shrieking shack, so I went up to find him, and he confessed that he had almost kissed Lily but that Wormtail interrupted them. Apparently he forgot about the girl from Diagon Alley the whole time that he was with Lily. He couldn't decide whether he wanted to take a chance with Lily or wait forever for a girl who might never show her face again. I was sure that he was leaning towards Lily when I left him, but then he comes home last night only to tell us that he's dating Vanessa. It's just really…"

Lily didn't stick around to hear the rest of what he was saying. She quickly turned around, not noticing the plant she knocked down, and ran toward her only escape – the fireplace. She grabbed a handful of floo powder, ran into the hearth, and said, 'Diagon Alley,' thus disappearing from the Potters' den.

As soon as she arrived in Diagon Alley, Lily darted straight for the brick wall, quickly opening it with her wand before dropping the wand on the ground and exiting the wizarding world forever. Tears flowed from her emerald eyes as she realized that she would never truly belong anywhere.

She had taken a chance on James, and it had all been for nothing. He would never feel the same way about her as she did about him. She didn't belong in the wizarding world, she knew that, but after spending two days there, she didn't feel like she belonged in the muggle world either. Going home was her only option, and yet it felt so wrong. So much had happened; she had changed, and she didn't feel comfortable going back to the place that would be a constant memory of her crushed hopes and dreams.

Lily looked up through her tear-filled eyes, and spotting a park not far away, which was depressingly empty. Lily, who had finally stopped crying but had yet to wipe the tears from her cheeks, did not have the presence of mind to wonder why there were no children around on a Sunday afternoon. She sat down in a swing and began to gently sway back and forth robotically, allowing her mind to go blank.

After an indeterminable amount of time, the mundane motions that she was making were halted by her best friend's voice. Rather than squealing with joy as she once would have done, she merely stopped swinging without acknowledging her friend and continued to stare seemingly through the ground.

"Lily! Thank God I've found you! Everyone's been worried sick. Your father thinks that you've been kidnapped and he's got Petunia staying at Vernon's all day while he's out looking for you and I've been so scared that I'd never see…Lily?" Sylvia finally noticed that her friend was oddly out of sorts, and she once again became worried. "Lily?"

Lily finally looked up, and the sadness reflected in her eyes almost caused Sylvia to let out a dry sob. "What's wrong?" she asked her friend shakily.

Sylvia's words seemed to break open a barrier, and thoughts of James and all that had happened flooded Lily's mind once again. Sylvia could only watch helplessly as tears once again stained her friend's face. Unable to take it anymore, she pulled Lily up off the swing and into a deep hug, causing the girl to let out a huge sob before finally blurting out the whole story from the two men in her room to finding out about James and Vanessa. When she had finished, she pulled away from her friend, wiping her cheeks with the backs of her hands and taking a few deep, calming breaths.

"Lily," Sylvia said softly, once she was sure that Lily wouldn't become hysterical, "You can't give up that easily."

"I don't know what to do," Lily replied helplessly.

"Well, sitting here certainly isn't helping matters. You need to go back to –"

"I'm not going back to the wizarding world," Lily interrupted, "ever."

"You need to talk to James. No matter what happens, you need to hear the story from him. Maybe it will make things better, and maybe it won't. Maybe you'll find out that it was all just a big understanding. And if you don't, then that's okay too because at least you will have had some closure. I really think that if you're going to come back home, you need that closure or you'll think about James every day for the rest of your life. If you are never going to see him again, then you need to say goodbye."

Lily looked like she wanted to protest, but she saw the look in Sylvia's eyes. It was a look that expressed wisdom beyond her friend's years, and Lily knew that this was one time when taking Sylvia's advice truly was her only option.

"I love you, you know that? You are the best friend that anyone could ask for."

"Yeah, I know. Aren't you lucky that I'm all yours?"

Lily smiled. "Thank you," she said softly, hugging her friend and then disappearing from the park. When she arrived at the brick wall from the Leaky Cauldron, she found it already open and she could see the back of a wizard walking away. She rushed through the wall, completely forgetting about her wand, not seeing it on the ground as she barely avoided stepping on it.

Lily didn't know where James would be, but she figured that his house would be the best place to look first. His mother still didn't know what had transpired, so if he wasn't there, she could wait in the bedroom that she had briefly known as her own. She never even got near a fireplace to floo, however, because straight ahead sat James with a girl that she had never seen before.

The girl was beautiful with long dark hair, and although she was sitting beside James with her head on his shoulder, Lily could tell that she was tall and lean. She knew at once with a sinking feeling in her stomach that this was Vanessa, and that there had been no misunderstanding this morning.

Feeling slightly awkward, Lily approached the couple, locking eyes with James when she got close and he looked up to see her there.

Sensing the tension in the air, Vanessa lifted her head from James' shoulder and opened her eyes. She looked from James to Lily, immediately joining them in feeling awkward. Finally breaking the silence, Lily addressed James, "Can we –"

"Yeah," he replied, not needing her to finish her sentence. He looked at Vanessa with a look that clearly said that they needed a moment, and she nodded, leaning over to kiss him briefly before getting up and saying "I'll be in the Three Broomsticks." She then left, leaving James and Lily alone and staring at each other.

"So it's true, then? You really are dating her?"

James nodded.

"I hope you're happy together," she said, unable to completely disguise the breaking in her voice.

James looked at her sadly, and felt the sudden need to explain. "I met a girl at Diagon Alley a while back and I think that I fell in love with her, but she seemed to disappear off the face of the earth."

It was killing Lily to know that he was talking about her and that she couldn't tell him so.

"I've found her now, Lily. It's Vanessa. She was the one who saved my life and…"

"That was ME you idiot!" she yelled, too upset to be shocked that she was finally able to reveal this tidbit of information.

But James didn't need to be told that, for suddenly, as though a veil had been lifted from over his eyes, he was able to really look at Lily, and he recognized her from the day that she had saved him. "Lily…" he whispered, looking at her and wiping away the tears that were running down her cheeks. He pulled her into a fierce hug, waiting for her quiet sobs to die down before pulling back to look into her eyes again. "I'm so sorry."

She gave him a teary smile before replying, "I know. It's okay now." She knew that he was going to kiss her now, and she waited in anticipation as his face drew nearer to hers, but their lips never touched because, at that moment, Voldemort apparated not three feet from them and let out the most evil, bone-chilling laugh that Lily had ever heard.

"It's too late, Lily, child," he said, looking pointedly toward the sky where the sun had, moments earlier, retreated, leaving nothing but clouds scattered across a sky that was now quickly getting darker. "It's too late!"

"Lily, what…"

"Your dearest Lily made a deal with me, James, and she failed to live up to her end of the bargain. She belongs to me now."

"No! Tell me it's not true. It can't be true."

"I'm sorry," she whispered through her tears. "I'm so sorry."

"Why?"

"I just wanted to see you again."

"But Voldemort is dangerous, Lily. Why would you make a deal with him?"

"I didn't know. And he offered me my own powers...how could I say no to that?

James looked shocked and confused, and Lily could tell that he was trying to organize the information in his head. "Your own…but that's impossible. Lily, no wizard can give a muggle powers. It can't be done."

"But…" she was interrupted by Voldemort's laughter once again.

"Didn't you wonder why you were able to get into Diagon Alley that first day, Lily?" he yelled mockingly.

"How did you…"

"I told you, child. I know everything. Now, why not ask your dear muggle father!"

Lily watched, horrified, as her father appeared with his arms tied together. He was restrained by two men: Lucius and Avery.

"No…Daddy?"

"I'm sorry, Lily."

She ran to him, despite protests from James, who was trying to hold her back. "Daddy, what's going on?"

"I should have told you."

"Told me what?"

He sighed sadly. "My first day in office, a portrait spoke to me, told me that I was about to meet the Minister for Magic. My mind was spinning. I had always entertained your fantasies about magic, but I had never really believed them. A man came through my fireplace. He explained to me all about the magical world. They were in a war, Lily, and it was much more frightening than the magical world that you had always imagined. When your letter came from Hogwarts, I was horrified. You have to understand, Lily. I knew what that world was like. I had had meetings with the Minister of Magic, and he had explained the dark times they were going through. I couldn't let you be a part of that, not after I'd already lost your mother. I couldn't lose you too."

"You mean…"

"I never gave you anything!" Voldemort shouted. "You were already a witch; you just didn't know it. And now you belong to me."

"No!" James cried, trying but failing to run to her, an invisible force pushing him back.

"I might be willing to strike up a bargain, though," Voldemort pronounced. "The support of the muggle Prime Minister is just the thing I need to make myself impossible to oppose. He would be so much more valuable to own than a witch who can't even do magic."

Lily opened her mouth to protest, but Voldemort was too quick. "Silencio!" he boomed, and all Lily could do was look at her father, her eyes begging him not to sacrifice himself for her.

Her father looked at her sadly, his eyes apologizing for his past mistakes and for what he was about to do.

She ran to him and flung herself into his arms, holding on to him for dear life. "No," she cried softly.

"Lily, everything that has transpired up to this point has been the result of my own mistakes. I cannot let you pay the price."

"I don't care. I won't let you do this."

"I don't have time for this. Lucius, Avery, let's go." With a malicious laugh and a poof, Voldemort and his minions disappeared from Diagon Alley, taking Lily's father with them. Lily was devastated when she realized that she had let her father slip right through her fingers, and she collapsed to the ground sobbing.

G

I would like to say first that I'm so so so so so so sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up. Would you believe me if I told you that I was abducted by aliens and that they put my brain into the body of someone who can't type? I didn't think so. It was worth a try, though. You most likely won't read this until Wednesday or later, but I would like it stated for the record that it is Tuesday night now (and by the way, I really should be doing calculus homework), so I'm really only two days late. (Actually, being the idiot I am, I uploaded the document and forgot to add the chapter to the story, so it's Thursday or later. But I still wrote it on Tuesday! Please forgive me!)To be perfectly honest, I was going to finish the story before posting any more. The last chapter was going to be the longest one, and then I would be finished. But I've been having a bit of writer's block lately, and I couldn't make you wait anymore for this part of the story. I don't have any more written, though, so the next update might take a bit of time. I hope you can be patient, and in the meantime, review and let me know what you think please. It might light a fire under my bum and get me writing, you never know. Also, if you have any ideas for what should happen to Voldemort, they would be greatly appreciated. I really don't know what to do with him, and that's what's giving me such a hard time. If you've got any insight, let me know, and I'll be sure to give you credit for your idea. I love you all, and I'm sorry for making you wait.

P.S. If the next chapter is really short, I'm sorry, but you have to remember that it was going to be part of this chapter. Review responses are on my bio page as always.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: This is my last disclaimer, so if you don't know what I do own (not much) and what I don't own (a lot) by now, then I'm not sure that you're even reading this, because you obviously haven't read the others.

* * *

With Voldemort gone, the barrier disappeared, and James was finally able to rush to Lily's side. He pulled her into his arms, and she willingly leaned into his embrace, burying her face in his chest and continuing to cry. James' heart broke as he listened to Lily's sobs and felt her tears permeate his shirt. 

Lily's sobs finally began to lessen, but she maintained her tight grip on James, and when she spoke, her voice was shaky. "I should have done something…Maybe I could have stopped him."

"Lily," James said firmly, loosening her grip on him and making sure that she was looking him directly in the eyes before continuing, "Don't think like that. There's nothing you could have done. Make no mistake about it. Voldemort is very powerful and very evil, and you don't want to anger him. Had you done any more than you did, you likely would have gotten yourself captured with your father. What we need to do right now is to see Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore…?"

He's the headmaster at Hogwarts. He'll know what to do. He's the only person that Voldemort is afraid of."

Lily wiped the tears from her cheeks as best as she could and nodded, allowing James to lead her to the Leaky Cauldron. When they entered, he wasted no time in finding Tom and asking to use the fireplace to floo to Hogwarts, which he readily agreed to. They flooed directly to Dumbledore's office, hoping that the urgency of the situation would compel him to overlook the rudeness.

Dumbledore looked up to see them stumble through his fireplace, but when James glanced at his face, he noticed that it registered amusement but no surprise. Just like nearly every time he saw Dumbledore, he had to marvel at how composed the man was and how much it took to startle him.

"Good evening James, what a pleasant surprise. Is there something I can do for you and…?" He trailed off, indicating that he did not know the name of James' companion.

"This is Lily," James offered, "Lily Evans." He put a little bit of emphasis on her last name, hoping that Dumbledore would pick up on it.

"Evans…any relation to..."

"Yes. Sir, her father was captured by Voldemort this evening. It's a long story, one of which even I don't know parts, but that's not important right now. We need to get her father back."

"As much as I'd like to agree with you James, I'm afraid that my instincts are telling me that this story is, in fact, very important – crucial even – and I must insist that you tell me."

"I'll tell you," Lily said quietly, speaking for the first time since they'd left the spot where Voldemort had disappeared with her father.

"Very well," replied Dumbledore. "Have a seat, please. Lemon drop?"

James had the urge to laugh, so he quickly grabbed on and popped it in his mouth, concentrating on the tart flavour rather than the absurdity of the situation and Dumbledore's odd quirks. Lily looked at the candies skeptically at first, but seeing that James was not breaking out in hives or anything like that, she cautiously reached out to take one but changed her mind at the last minute. It was going to be hard enough to tell the story without something to hinder her ability to speak. Dumbledore merely shrugged and put them away.

"Now, please tell me what happened."

She began by telling him briefly about her father's sudden dislike for magic and her insistence that it existed, continuing with the tale of her trip to the train station and to Diagon Alley with Sylvia. She then told him about Lucius and Avery showing up in her room and taking her to see Lord Voldemort, as well as about the deal she made with him. She stopped the story here to defend herself.

"I swear that I had no idea who he was and what he was capable of. If I had, I never would have gone to see him, let alone agree to anything. You have to believe…" she faltered under Dumbledore's understanding gaze, realizing that she didn't have to worry about him blaming her.

"We often do things that we later regret when unarmed with all the facts of the situation. It is hard to prevent these things since most of us are not blessed with the gift of foresight. Please continue."

She skipped most of the details about her time spent with James, and she rushed through, though in detail, Voldemort's appearance in Diagon Alley and her father's capture. When she had finally finished, she let out a deep breath and listened to the silence for a few moments.

"I am unsure as to the location of your father, Lily, but I am confident that I can find out. I want you two to stay here, and I will see if, with the help of a few trusted allies, I can retrieve your father from Voldemort's clutches."

"I want to go with you," argued James. "I can't just sit around and do nothing."

"I must insist that you stay here with Lily this time, Mr. Potter. Please understand that it is for the best."

Lily and James watched as Dumbledore exited the office. The two continued sitting in their chairs silently for a few moments, unable to find anything worth saying, but then James looked up at her and saw that her eyes once more shone with tears. He got up and gently pulled her up out of her chair and led her over to the couch. He lay down and made room for her to do the same, wrapping his arms around her again and rubbing her back while she cried. After a while, he heard her steady breathing, indicating that she was asleep. Suddenly realizing how very tired he was, he couldn't help drifting off as well.

* * *

Lily and James were awoken by Dumbledore's voice an indeterminable amount of time later. The two got up from their place on the couch and again took up their previous seats in front of his desk. 

"We've managed to retrieve your father from Voldemort, Miss Evans. He is safe at home, and I will allow you to go home in a few moments by portkey. First, though, I wanted to talk to the both of you."

He paused for a moment, finally addressing James, "Have you given any thought to a career, Mr. Potter? I know that your father is very disappointed that you haven't started anything."

"What I really want is to be an auror, but he won't allow it. And I refuse to go into politics. My father doesn't seem to grasp the concept that what's right for him isn't necessarily right for me. Besides, it's too late to start auror training. It's already started."

"You would make a fine auror, Mr. Potter. So good, in fact, that Alastor Moody has agreed to permit you to start training next week. It will take a lot of work to catch up with the other students, but I don't imagine that you would mind the extra work all that much. You can be very dedicated when you want to be, and I can tell that a career as an auror would mean a lot to you."

James sat there shocked for a few moments, unable to respond. He couldn't believe the opportunity that was being presented to him. A meek "Thank you, sir," was all he managed to say.

Dumbledore chuckled a little, then turned to Lily. "As for you, I imagine that you are a very gifted witch."

"How can I be? I haven't even had a single lesson at Hogwarts."

"Your ability to perform the summoning charm on your first try speaks volumes. Not many witches and wizards can do that, even with three years of Hogwarts education. I wonder if you wouldn't like to take private lessons with myself and a few of the other Hogwarts professors. I imagine that we could have you up to fifth-year level by the end of the year, at which time you could write the OWL's. You could join the sixth years in classes the following year. You could graduate Hogwarts in 3 years, and then we could see about getting you started in a career."

It was now Lily's turn to be dumbfounded. She couldn't believe that she had this amazing opportunity. She, unlike James, however, was able to keep her composure, and after only a minute, was able to say, "I would like that very much."

"Excellent. Now, I imagine that you would like to go home to see your father?"

Lily nodded.

"Very well," he continued, placing a candy in Lily's hand. She immediately recognized it as a lemon drop. "I have turned that into a portkey. The activation word is 'yummy'. Once you are safely home, say 'lemony' and the portkey will once again be a normal, harmless candy, which you can then enjoy. Just don't say 'yummy' again while it's in your mouth. I'm not sure what would happen, but I don't think now is the time for experiments, hmm?"

Lily found this all rather amusing, but she managed to hold the candy and say the activation word without laughing, a feat of which she was rather proud. She felt a tug in her navel and then she was back in the comfort of her own home, and there was her father right in front of her. She ran to him and threw her arms around him, holding on for dear life, and this time her tears were not of sadness or fear, but of joy.

* * *

**One year later**

Lily sat in her room, thinking about all that had happened since a little over a year ago when she had met James at Diagon Alley. The thought of James brought a smile to her face. Both of them were busy with school, him with his second year of auror training and her with "sixth year" at Hogwarts, but they still saw each other as often as possible, and they had even been talking about marriage. She was staying in a dorm with the other sixth year Griffindors (the house she had been sorted into), and she liked them very much.

It was now halfway through Christmas vacation. She had spent the first half of her vacation at home, during which she had spent time with her father and Sylvia. She hadn't seen much of Petunia, who had recently married her awful boyfriend Vernon. She had mixed feelings about that. She missed her sister, but whenever she saw her now, Petunia would call her a freak. Lily hadn't realized how her newfound magic would change her relationship with her sister, but it had, and Lily wasn't willing to give up the magical world. She hoped that someday Petunia's fears and prejudices would diminish, but she was not confident that it would ever happen. Lily sighed, deciding not to concentrate on her sister. She was finally going to see James tomorrow.She would be spending New Years and the rest of her vacation withhim and his parents…and, of course, Sirius.

She looked up as her father knocked on her open door and motioned for him to come in. He came and sat on the bed beside her, gazing at her in a way that only a father can. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Daddy."

"You're supposed to be my little girl, but you're all grown up now, and you're going to leave me. You'll go and live in the magical world, and you'll get married, and you'll forget about me."

"Never. I'll come back and visit so much that you'll get sick of me. I'll always be your little girl."

"Your mother would be so proud of you. I'm so proud of you. Lily, I'm sorry about my mistakes. I wish that I had never kept the truth from you, but –"

"It doesn't matter anymore, Daddy," she interrupted, leaning over to give him a hug.

After a few moments her father pulled back.

"Oh! I just remembered why I came up here in the first place. This came in the mail for you today."

Lily looked at the package that he handed her, knowing immediately by the return address what it was. She smiled, placing it on top of her packed bags. She wanted James to open this.

"Aren't you going to open it?" her father asked.

"Not yet," she replied with a smile.

"Suit yourself," he said, getting up off the bed and heading for the door. "Dinner will be ready in about 10 minutes."

"Okay, thanks."

* * *

When Lily arrived at James' house the next day, she knocked on the door, musing that she had never before come here this way. She had always used floo. It took a while for James to answer the door, and shehad a hard time holdingin her amusementwhen he did because his hair was all messy and he was still wearing his pajamas. 

"Laugh and suffer the consequences," he said, which just made her erupt in giggles, so he grabbed her and pulled her into a passionate kiss which lasted several minutes. "Hmm, your consequences aren't so bad," she commented when he pulled away. "Now can I come in? I'm freezing."

He silently moved aside to let her in and shut the door behind her.

He pulled her under the doorway to the kitchen, catching her off guard by kissing her again, this time more softly. She pulled away after a minute, looking up. "Mistletoe," she commented, "how convenient."

"Like it? I put it up last night."

"But James, Christmas was three days ago."

"Yes, but you weren't here three days ago. And I must say that I'm not at all curious as to whether or not the rumours about Sirius' kissing abilities are true."

"Touché."

"Speaking of Sirius," he said with a mischievous look in his eyes, "do you want to help me wake him up?"

She laughed at his excitement. "Sure," she replied, "sound's like fun. But first, I want you to open this." She opened her smallest bag, pulling out the package that she had received in the mail yesterday and handing it to him."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Just open it."

He did as requested, ripping open the envelope and pulling out a book and a letter. "Dear Miss Evans," he read aloud. "Hey, wait a minute! This is addressed to you, not me. Why would I want your mail?"

"Just read it, please?" she asked, looking at him with puppy dog eyes. "I can't bear to do it."

He was slightly confused, but he nodded anyway and turned back to the letter. "Dear Miss Evans. We are happy to inform you that we have decided to publish your book. You'll find a copy enclosed. Congratulations, and good luck in all future endeavors."

He looked up at the conclusion of the letter to find Lily smiling widely. "Congratulations," he said to her, embracing her. "This is great news."

"I coulnd't have done it without you."

He moved the letter out of the way, now seeing the book for the first time. It was fairly thin, and the illustration on the front revealed that it was obviously a children's book. He ran his fingers across the title, reading it out loud as he did so.

"The Little Mermaid…"

**The End**

* * *

Author's note: Thank you for reading my story, and especially to everyone who reviewed. It's over, and I hope you've enjoyed it. Since this is the last chapter, please review it to let me know how you liked the story as a whole. I've added review responses for the ones I've received up until now, and I'll write review responses to any more in a week or two. I'm sorry that it took me so long to get this up. My only excuse is school work, of which I have a ton. I don't care what anyone tells you. University equals reading. It's as simple as that. Okay, so maybe not _that_ simple, but still… 

I'm sorry that I didn't include the rescue scene. I cannot write action/adventure, and that translates to an inability to write rescue scenes. I hope that no one is too upset that they couldn't read it. I think that my excuse (even though I already told you the real reason) will be that I wanted to leave it up to your imagination. Actually, use your imagination but stick to these happenings- Dumbledore goes to wherever Voldemort is (because Snape tells him where to go if you didn't get that). He "offers Voldemort a lemon drop, and then proceeds to beat the crap out of him. In a Dumbledore-y way, of course. Preferably involving sugar quills." (The stuff in quotes is courtesy of Queen of Duct Tape. Thank you!) Hopefully that will satisfy your thirst for a rescue mission.

I really don't want to shut up, because this is the last author's note I'll ever write, but I know when people start trickling out of the room that I've talked too long. Okay, so that is more for if I was giving a seminar or something, but you get the point. Ciao! It's been a blast.


End file.
